Google and Apple claim to respect human rights, but critics claim the technology companies continue to give authoritarian leaders in foreign nations unprecedented power to control access to information.
Apple and Google removed an app called Smart Voting from their app stores at the request of the Kremlin, according to the Associated Press. The app was designed to give people information about what candidates would stand a chance against Russian President Vladimir Putin's party in the recent elections. Lists of candidates endorsed by Smart Voting were also blocked on YouTube and Google Docs, the AP said.
The move angered supporters of free speech.
“This is bad news for democracy and dissent all over the world,” said Natalia Krapiva, tech legal counsel for Access Now, an internet freedom group. “We expect to see other dictators copying Russia’s tactics.”
Online freedom is being threatened around the world, according to the website Freedom House. Online freedoms declined worldwide for the 11th consecutive year, Freedom House said, and China, for the seventh straight year, ranks the worst in online freedom in the world. The online freedom score declined in the United States for the fifth consecutive year, the website said.
Apple's "Commitment to Human Rights" makes it sound as though the company puts individual liberties above all else. However, the following lines from the document conflict with that: “Where national law and international human rights standards differ, we follow the higher standard. Where they are in conflict, we respect national law while seeking to respect the principles of internationally recognized human rights.” This statement on human rights commits to nothing except for following orders and stands for no principle."
According to the AP, Leonid Volkov, one of the top strategists for jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, said the big tech companies “bent to the Kremlin’s blackmail.”
Another Navalny ally, Ivan Zhdanov, mentioned suing the companies, AP reported.
In a Tweet, Zhdanov stated: "Removing the Navalny app from stores is a shameful act of political censorship. Russia's authoritarian government and propaganda will be thrilled."