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   "A clear escalation in Russias crackdown on digital privacy tools"  experts   
   warn against recent VPN disappearances in Russia   
      
   Date:   
   Fri, 16 May 2025 16:02:25 +0000   
      
   Description:   
   The VPN purge from Russian official app stores continues as smaller providers   
   like Samsung, Xiaomi, and Huawei become the next target. Experts at the VPN   
   Guild are calling to hold tech platforms accountable.   
      
   FULL STORY   
   ======================================================================   
      
   The VPN purge from Russian official app stores continues, with smaller   
   providers becoming the new target after Apple and Google.    
      
   Between May 15 and 16, 2025, Samsung and Xiaomi both removed the AdGuard VPN   
   application at the Roskomnadzor's demand. At least one more VPN provider,   
   HideMyName VPN, has also been removed from the Huawei Store in Russia and   
   China  a Russian VPN digital rights group, VPN Guild, confirmed to TechRadar.    
      
   "The removal of VPN apps from app stores marks a clear escalation in Russias   
   crackdown on digital privacy tools," said VPN Guild Chair Alexey Kozliuk. Not   
   an isolated incident A virtual private network (VPN) is a crucial tool for   
   people in Russia, thanks to its IP-spoofing capabilities that allow bypassing   
   of government-imposed geo-restrictions, as well as strong encryption to help   
   fight back against online surveillance.   
      
   The recent events, Kozliuk explains, aren't isolated incidents, but part of a   
   broader, ongoing campaign to block Russian citizens' access to uncensored   
   information and control internet use.    
      
   In October 2023, for example, HideMyName filed the first-ever lawsuit against   
   the Kremlin's infamous censorship body regulator Roskomnadzor. In January   
   2024, authorities deemed the VPN provider to be a "foreign agent. "    
      
   In March 2024, the government then passed a new law to criminalize the spread   
   of information about ways to circumvent internet restrictions. This is likely   
   the legal basis upon which the Russian censor body began issuing these    
   removal demands to tech firms.    
      
   From July 2024 onwards, Apple has removed at least 60 VPN apps, including   
   AdGuard VPN , a popular Russian service, and Amnezia VPN , alongside some of   
   the best VPN services on the market. This brought the total toll to almost    
   100 VPN apps unavailable in Russia's App Store.    
      
   While Google seems mostly resistant to these demands so far, recent data    
   shows that at least 53 VPNs are also currently unavailable in the Google Play   
   Store in Russia.    
      
   Now, authorities' targets have also expanded towards smaller app store   
   providers.    
      
   "Were seeing a coordinated squeeze across platforms, limiting users ability    
   to bypass restrictions," said Kozliuk. "Whats especially concerning is the   
   growing role of global tech companies in enforcing local censorship, whether   
   under direct state pressure or as preemptive compliance."    
      
   GreatFires Campaign and Advocacy Director, Benjamin Ismail, also shared the   
   same concerns. Through the organization's project AppCensorship, Ismail and   
   the team have been busy monitoring a staggering increase in these VPN    
   removals across both Apple and Google's official app stores.    
      
   While it's the first time Ismail has heard of such an incident involving   
   Samsung's Galaxy App Store, he told TechRadar that a way smaller provider   
   (F-Droid) was also hit by a similar request in 2024.    
      
   According to Ismail, this may mean that Roskomnadzor has understood that it   
   can try its luck to put pressure on tech vendors. "Smaller providers may   
   struggle more to resist these demands as the prospect of becoming fully   
   unavailable in Russia might be an issue for these platforms," he added.    
      
   VPNs will remain a critical line of defense for digital freedom -- Alexey   
   Kozliuk, VPN Guild Chair   
      
   This is exactly why experts have long argued that Big Tech giants, which have   
   the means and resources, should uphold their users' human rights and    
   challenge the Kremlin's censorship requests.    
      
   Commenting on this point, Kozliuk from the VPN Guild said: "This underscores   
   the urgent need to give users more control and make them less reliant on   
   centralized platforms and app ecosystems, as well as the need for stronger   
   international advocacy to hold tech platforms accountable.    
      
   "As political tensions rise, especially around elections or protests, these   
   crackdowns will likely intensify  and VPNs will remain a critical line of   
   defense for digital freedom."   
      
   ======================================================================   
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/a-clear-escalation-in-russi   
   as-crackdown-on-digital-privacy-tools-experts-warn-against-recent-vpn-disappea   
   rances-in-russia   
      
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