{"id":33749,"date":"2021-09-27T17:05:26","date_gmt":"2021-09-27T21:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=33749"},"modified":"2021-09-27T17:05:26","modified_gmt":"2021-09-27T21:05:26","slug":"smart-voting-app-removed-from-app-store","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2021\/09\/27\/smart-voting-app-removed-from-app-store\/","title":{"rendered":"Smart Voting App Removed From App Store"},"content":{"rendered":"

Justin Sherman<\/a> (tweet<\/a>, Reuters<\/a>):<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, when the Kremlin told multiple Big Tech companies to suppress political opposition amid nationwide elections<\/a> in Russia, their answer was unequivocal: no. Yet just two weeks later, Apple and Google deleted<\/a> from their app stores the Smart Voting app, opposition leader Alexey Navalny and his party’s primary tool for consolidating votes against Vladimir Putin’s regime. Then Telegram and Google-owned YouTube also restricted<\/a> access to the recommendations for opposition candidates that Navalny was sharing on these platforms.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

Francisco Tolmasky<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Just like during the Hong Kong protests, Apple has again been pressured to remove an app for political reasons. This time a tactical voting app in Russia. Without side-loading, the @AppStore becomes a single bottleneck for governments to censor dissent.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

One thing that baffles me every time this happens, is that I wouldn’t want<\/em> this responsibility if I was Apple. I’d want to stay distraction free, focused on fun stuff like AR or new iPhone cameras, not getting needlessly sucked into heavy decisions about international politics.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

Previously:<\/p>\n