Back in mid-April, the Russian telecom watchdog had asked Apple to remove Telegram from the App Store after banning the app across the country based on a court order.
A month later, Telegram continues to be available on the App Store. This is why the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications or Roskomnadzor has again demanded Apple that it removes the app from the App Store and stops sending Russian users push notifications regarding it.
“In order to anticipate Roskomnadzor’s likely response to the violations regarding the operation of the aforesaid Apple, Inc. services we are asking you to notify us within the tightest deadlines of the company’s further actions regarding the solution of these issues,”Roskomnadzor said in a statement.
Apple now has one month to report on its efforts taken to remove Telegram from the App Store. Alexander Zharov, head of Roskomnadzor refused to provide details on what actions the telecom watchdog can take if Apple fails to reply.
“We sent them [Apple] a legally binding letter and are awaiting their legally binding reply. Because Apple, like other transnational companies, is a company with a high degree of red tape, we expect the reply within a month,” Zharov told Interfax on Monday.
Apple has previously removed apps from the iOS App Store at the request of the government. The company removed hundreds of VPN apps from the iOS App Store in China and recently started removing those apps which relied on the CallKit framework, all on the request of the Chinese government and to comply with the local regulations there.
Source: Interfax