Russia will block the App Store if Apple doesn’t remove Telegram

Russia’s telecom regulatory authority has sent another request to Apple to take down Telegram. Here’s what this means for Russian Telegram users.

App Store might get blocked in Russia

With Russia failing to block Telegram, it has turned its sights towards Apple’s in-house application distribution platform.

An App Store block has been a long time coming ever since Russia failed to block the ultra-secure messenger. For the uninitiated, Telegram is “blocked” in Russia since April yet users are able to use it freely.

Russia has hundreds of thousands of iPhone users. Consequently, the Russian App Store is responsible for a lot of revenue and the closure of the App Store won’t bode well for Apple.

Now, Roskomnadzor, Russia’s telecom regulatory, has two demands –

• Firstly, Apple must remove the messaging app from the App Store.
• Secondly, disable its push notifications on the iPhone.

A day after the ban, Roskomnadzor demanded Apple and Google to remove the app from their App Stores. However, none of the smartphone giants took heed of the request.

Can Apple evade an App Store blockade?

Telegram users can easily bypass any blocks by using a VPN or its inbuilt proxy server functionality. App Store users, on the other hand, will not be able to evade a ban by employing the same means.

Apple will obviously need to give in in order to continue doing business in Russia. This is the most logical route for the company and will also ensure Russians will not be left with a dysfunctional smartphone.

The Cupertino giant has yielded to the demands of the Chinese government and removed some apps from the Chinese App Store. According to me, this will be yet another repeat of the same saga this time around.

For more Telegram news and updates, follow us on Facebook and Twitter.