The ability for owners of "apple" devices to download VPN services from the App Store was at odds with Russian legislation regarding the blocking of prohibited content.
Since March 1, 2024, Russia has a ban on the dissemination of information on the Internet that advertises or promotes means of circumventing blocking to access illegal content. At the request of Roskomnadzor, Apple has blocked 25 mobile VPN service applications размещённых in the Russian App Store.
Publications on the Internet with descriptions of actions that allow access to illegal resources, offers to purchase such access, or stories about the benefits of using such services also fall under the RKN ban from March 1.
In early 2024, it became known that Russia would have its own new specialized information system that will block illegal content on the Internet. A bill allowing the use of "operational solution for blocking malicious sites using a specialized information system", according to sources in some media, has already been drawn up by the Prosecutor General's Office, the Ministry of Digital Development and Roskomnadzor. But it has not yet been presented to the public.
Read materials on the topic:
Roskomnadzor will start using AI to search for prohibited information on the Internet
Without VPN — Russia from March 1 can block both VPN services and sites that advertise them
