Apple and Google have pulled the LinkedIn mobile app from their local app stores in Russia following the government’s demands to do so.
The Russian government has demanded Apple and Google remove LinkedIn from their app stores
LinkedIn is “disappointed.”
Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images
The move comes after Russia blocked LinkedIn’s website as punishment because the professional network does not “store data on Russian citizens within the nation’s borders,” according to the New York Times. That is against Russian law.
A LinkedIn spokesperson confirmed the apps have been removed.
”We are disappointed with [Russia’s telecom regulatory agency] Roskomnadzor’s action to block LinkedIn,” a LinkedIn spokesperson said in a statement sent to Recode. “It denies access to our members in Russia and the companies that use LinkedIn to grow their businesses.”
Both Apple and Google did not reply to email requests for comment, but Apple confirmed Russia’s demands to the Times.
This move is not entirely surprising — Russian regulators have been going after LinkedIn for violating the data storage law for a few months now.
Separately, a few days earlier Apple pulled another app from one of its international App Stores: The New York Times app was blocked in China’s App Store earlier this week for “violating local regulations.” (It’s unclear which regulations the app violated and Apple declined to specify.)
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
