“Tech companies find themselves vulnerable to blocking and other forms of pressure by Russian authorities. However, this does not give the companies carte blanche to enable the Kremlin’s outrageous violations of human rights online” – HRW
This statement was originally published on hrw.org on 17 November 2024.
Resist censorship; protect free expression, access to information
Foreign tech companies have given in to intensifying pressure from Russian authorities to comply with draconian national laws that violate international human rights standards, Human Rights Watch said today. Companies should meet their human rights responsibilities and make it possible for users in Russia to stay connected.
Over the past six months, Russian authorities have increasingly issued arbitrary demands to major foreign tech companies to take down content and prevent internet users in Russia from accessing tools that allow them to circumvent censorship. The firms have complied despite the clear violation of rights to freedom of expression and access to information.
“Tech companies find themselves vulnerable to blocking and other forms of pressure by Russian authorities,” said Anastasiia Kruope, assistant Europe and Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “However, this does not give the companies carte blanche to enable the Kremlin’s outrageous violations of human rights online.”
Foreign tech companies have a responsibility to respect human rights. They are required to avoid infringing on human rights, and to carry out due diligence to identify and address human rights impacts arising from their services including by providing meaningful access to remedies and to communicate how they are addressing these impacts.
In June 2024, at the request of Roskomnadzor, the federal executive authority that oversees online and media content, Mozilla temporarily removed five censorship circumvention add-ons – Censor Tracker, Runet Censorship Bypass, Planet VPN, Fast Proxy and one more unnamed add-on – for its Firefox browser users in Russia. Some of the add-ons were specifically designed to bypass state censorship in Russia.
Five days later, Mozilla said, that after “considering the regulatory environment in Russia and the potential risk to our community and staff” Mozilla “would reinstate previously restricted listings in Russia,” in alignment with Mozilla’s commitment to an open and accessible internet.
Human Rights Watch wrote to Mozilla about the issue but did not receive an on the record response.
In July, the Russian news agency Interfax reported that Apple had removed 25 virtual private networks (VPNs) from its Russia App Store following a “takedown demand” from Roskomnadzor. Some VPN companies, such as Le VPN and Red Shield VPN, publicly confirmed the removal and shared Apple’s notification citing “content illegal in Russia” as the basis.
Since then, Apple has reportedly removed dozens more VPNs from its App Store in Russia for unspecified reasons. Human Rights Watch also independently verified the takedown of dozens of VPN apps from the Russia App Store that remained available in other country markets, though it was unclear whether they had been removed by Apple or the developers.
Human Rights Watch wrote to Apple in July with detailed questions. Apple did not respond to the letter on the record or comment on compliance with specific orders, or the fact that compliance would contribute to violations of rights. However, in a written response to HRW’s letter of inquiry in December Apple said that “Failure to comply with lawful orders could mean that Apple would no longer be able to operate an App Store or distribute content in the country. The United States government has encouraged companies to continue to make communications services available to the Russian people because democratic principles are best aided through the availability of these services.”
In November, YouTube notified some users that they had to remove their videos about censorship circumvention tools or the company might be forced to block them as Roskomnadzor had designated them as prohibited information.
Millions of internet users in Russia regularly use censorship circumvention tools like VPNs and other proxies to overcome Russia’s draconian censorship laws and access information online, including independent reporting on Russia’s war in Ukraine.
In 2017, legislative amendments were adopted prohibiting proxy services, including VPNs and internet anonymizers, from providing access to websites banned in Russia. Since then, Russian authorities have blocked hundreds of proxies. They also repeatedly imposed heavy fines on foreign tech companies for providing access to such services. In March 2024, a new law entered into force that prohibited sharing information on circumventing censorship, including promoting VPNs.
When foreign tech companies comply with the Russian authorities’ demands to take down VPN apps, they are further exacerbating the informational isolation that people living in Russia face due to state censorship, Human Rights Watch said.
Foreign tech companies also complied with demands to censor content, which violate freedom of expression and access to information standards.
In May, independent media reported that YouTube blocked three videos explaining how draftees can avoid mobilization in Russia, and notified OVD-Info, a prominent Russian rights group, that their channel “What Now?” could potentially face removal, all based on orders from Roskomnadzor. YouTube restored access to the videos via a link the next day, but the videos no longer appear in search results.
Access Now reported that YouTube also warned that it would be forced to block the channels of the OVD-Info, Russia’s leading digital rights group “Roskomsvoboda,” and the channels of the journalists Ekaterina Kotrikadze and Tikhon Dzyadko, in connection with violations of the “foreign agent” law, used by Russian authorities to crack down on state critics.
Human Rights Watch repeatedly reached out to Google but received no response.
On October 18, Apple removed from its Russia App Store an app of a Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)’s broadcasting project “Current Time” saying it was illegal content under Russian law, and that it contained materials of an “undesirable” organization, referring to a ban imposed by the Russian authorities in February. Apple also removed RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service, which publishes in Russian, from its Russian app store.
On November 15, Apple notified RFE/RL that its Russian service app, which hosts the websites of its regional projects Sibir.Realii and Sever.Realii, had been removed. Apple, indicating a Roskomnadzor demand, said that the content included materials of an “undesirable organization”.
In November, Apple reportedly hid episodes of three independent media outlets’ podcasts from its Podcast app for users in Russia: “What Was That?” by BBC Russian service, and the podcasts of Echo Moscow and The Insider. They were blocked over their reporting on Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Two months prior, Apple had removed “This Too Shall Pass,” a song about politically motivated repression and police violence by Pornofilmy, a Russian punk band, from Apple Music for users in Russia. The band said Apple took down the song on Roskomnadzor’s request. In October 2023, an “unspecified state body” had ordered the blocking of two websites containing lyrics and chords from the song.
This is not the first time Apple and Google have complied with such requests.
In September 2021, Apple and Google removed access to the Navalny Smart Voting app, intended to help Russian voters choose candidates with the best chances of defeating the ruling party in parliamentary elections. Google also restricted access to YouTube videos and Google Docs containing the names of recommended candidates.
Increasing compliance by foreign tech companies with Russian authorities’ demands is especially concerning in the context of near-full compliance by the Russia based tech companies with the repressive legislation and policies. Russian search engines, social media platforms, software applications and e-mail, and other digital service providers store the data of their users, share it with Russian law enforcement, censor content, filter, and manipulate search results as per authorities’ demands.
Over the past years, Russian authorities have threatened foreign tech companies that they could be blocked, issued colossal fines, labelled them “extremist,” searched their Russian premises, seized property, and threatened employees with criminal charges.
Authorities apparently attempted full and/or partial blocking of YouTube, Signal, WhatsApp, Viber and Telegram. LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and X are already blocked in Russia.
The government also increasingly cracked down on foreign hosting service providers and cloud service providers used by foreign tech companies to provide their services in Russia. In December, Roskomnadzor threatened to block eight foreign hosting service providers for failure to comply with Russia’s draconian legislation.
Foreign tech companies should resist complying with orders that restrict access to protected expression, including by challenging them in court. Companies should conduct human rights due diligence to evaluate and mitigate the risks of becoming complicit in censorship as well as consider the implications of potential blocking or throttling, including by establishing a contingency plan to help facilitate access to their users in Russia, Human Rights Watch said.
“Companies should engage with Russian civil society to understand the implications of complying with authorities’ orders that violate international human rights standards, as well as to identify ways to protect the rights of their users,” Kruope said.
