Google, Apple 'censor' Navalny app as Russian polls open

MOSCOW • Allies of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny accused Apple and Google of "censorship" yesterday after they removed opposition voting apps at the start of a three-day parliamentary election in Russia.

Polls opened across the vast country yesterday after a year which saw a sweeping crackdown on President Vladimir Putin's opponents, with Russians given the option of voting online.

State media showed Mr Putin casting his ballot online from self-isolation, several days into quarantine after coming into contact with Covid-19.

As voting began on a cold Moscow morning, the opposition said a "Smart Voting" app advising supporters on how to vote out Kremlin allies had been removed from the app stores of both Apple and Google.

"They caved in to the Kremlin's blackmail," Mr Leonid Volkov, an exiled aide to Navalny, said on Telegram, after Moscow accused the US technology giants of election interference and demanded they remove the app.

Navalny ally Ivan Zhdanov accused the companies of a "shameful act of political censorship", posting a screenshot on Twitter of an e-mail from Apple saying the app was removed because Navalny's organisation has been declared "extremist".

Google and Apple did not respond to an Agence France-Presse request for comment, but the decision comes a day after their representatives met Russian officials.

"After the conversation that was had, I think Google and Apple made the only right conclusion," Senator Andrei Klimov, who took part in the meeting, told Russian news agencies.

The Kremlin welcomed the move, saying the tech giants had conformed with "the letter and spirit" of Russian law.

The app instructed Russians on how to vote strategically to try to defeat politicians from Mr Putin's United Russia party, after candidates critical of the Kremlin were largely barred from running.

In Mr Putin's two decades in power, there have been tightening controls over the Russian segment of the Internet.

The election for seats in the State Duma - the Lower House - which runs until Sunday, comes after a year that has seen Navalny jailed, many of his allies arrested and his organisations banned.

Mr Putin, who turns 69 next month, said in a video on the eve of the ballot that he was counting on voters to make "responsible, balanced and patriotic" decisions.

While he remains broadly well liked, United Russia has seen its popularity drop as living standards decline in an economic slump induced by the Covid-19 pandemic.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE