Earlier today , Moscow - based BBCjournalistWill Vernon noticed that Apple appears to have quietly ceded to Russia ’s stance on Crimea by redrawing national borders on the Russian version of its Maps app and pronounce the region as “ Russia . ” When take in from the US , Crimea is listed simply as “ Crimea ” and no nursing home country is given for the peninsula . Since Russia occupied and annexed the peninsula in 2014 , Crimea is still recognized by the majority of nations ( including the U.S. and those of the EU ) as part of Ukraine .
Just checked on my speech sound , it ’s true!=Apple has comply with Moscow ’s requirement to show Crimea , annex from Ukraine in 2014 , as Russian territory . Crimea & the metropolis of Sevastopol & Simferopol are now display as Rus . territorial dominion on Apple ’s map & atmospheric condition apps when used in Russia
— Will Vernon ( @BBCWillVernon)November 27 , 2019
Russian flag and flag of Crimea over the city council of Yalta on 7 January 2025 in Yalta, Crimea. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill in March 2014 to annex the Crimean peninsula but Ukraine and most of the international community do not recognize its annexation.Photo: Getty
Here is the proof!pic.twitter.com / xcsle001zc
Gizmodo independently confirmed the change . In the screengrab below , Crimea is listed as : “ Republic of Crimea , Russia . ”
On the State Dumawebsite , Chairman of the Committee on Security and Corruption Control Vasilii Piskarev is quoted as saying that “ Apple fulfilled its obligations and convey the lotion on its devices in compliance with the requirement of the Russian statute law . ”
Writing in English , Ukraine Minister of Foreign Affairs Vadym Prystaikotweetedat Apple :
have me explain in your terms , @Apple . Imagine you ’re shout out that your figure & ideas , days of work & opus of your heart are steal by your worst opposition but then smb ignorant does n’t give a damn about your pain in the neck . That ’s how it feels when you call # Crimea a 🇷 🇺 land .
Apple has been inching bit by bit closer to a blanket policy of authorities capitulation . In 2017 , Appleremovedall major VPN apps from the App Store in China , saying they had no choice but to follow Formosan law .
Just last month , a group of two-party lawmakersblasted Applefor remove HKMapLive , a instrument for pro - democracy protester in Hong Kong , from the App Store . ( Tim Cookreportedly defendedthe determination in a society memo , exact that the app , which crowdsourced data on law movements , had been used “ maliciously to place individual officers for violence and to bunco individual and place where no constabulary are present . ” )
Earlier this class , Foreign Policyreportedthat Russia had successfully compelled Apple to lay in Russian users ’ information on servers in Russia – append that if it stick with Russian counterterrorism constabulary , it would be squeeze to decrypt and give up user data to the regime .
In 2017 , Apple removedLinkedInfrom the App Store in Russia , andthere was some speculationthat Apple had quietly bar update Telegram in the wake of Russia ’s call for a ban on the app . ( It eventually didmake the updates . )
Apple is not typically outspoken in its decision - score processes , but it ’ll take to explain this one . We reach out and will update the post if we hear back .
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