Russia censor threatens Google, Apple over opposition app - The ...

It is clear that it is illegitimate, unauthorized, anti-constitutional,” said Artem Kozlyuk of the group Roskomsvoboda.Navalny and his allies have made liberal use of U.S.-based Internet services in their opposition to the government, exposing government corruption on YouTube, denouncing inhumane prison conditions on Instagram and rallying support for opposition legislative candidates on iPhone and Android apps.But this adept use of technology has generated an equally aggressive backlash from Russia’s government censors, who’ve demanded wide-ranging takedowns of opposition material online on the grounds that it is “extremist.” Russian censors have blocked 49 Navalny-linked websites, throttled Twitter for failing to delete content Russia deems illegal, and repeatedly fined Google and others for refusing to store users’ data on servers based within Russia.Roskomnadzor also has called on YouTube to remove Navalny’s channel, with 6.5 million subscribers, and demanded that other platforms disable the accounts of Navalny and associates. Apple and Google declined to comment about government demands that the apps be removed.Russia’s battle to quash the app is a key part of its election strategy — and also a potential watershed battle in its efforts to control the Internet and hinder the spread of dissent and democratic ideas, say government critics.“They made it very clear that the single most important thing for them in regard to this upcoming election is to block this technology because it’s the only thing that could prevent their plans of ensuring an entirely predictable and submissive Duma from being elected,” said Leonid Volkov, a senior adviser to Navalny.Russian authorities have tried to block opposition access to Internet services before.