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Russia’s state internet and media regulator has demanded that Apple and Google remove the mobile application of a prominent independent investigative news outlet from their app stores, escalating Moscow’s long-running campaign to sever the Russian public from uncensored journalism.
The media regulator, Roskomnadzor, sent formal demands to the American tech giants seeking the removal of the app for IStories, an investigative reporting outlet that frequently exposes political corruption and details the realities of the war in Ukraine.
IStories reported that Apple notified the organization directly about the government's demand. A parallel notification sent to Google was discovered in the Lumen database, an independent project that tracks legal requests for the removal of online content.
In its notices, Roskomnadzor demanded that the tech companies promptly instruct IStories to delete information allegedly distributed in violation of Russian law, threatening to have the app taken down entirely if the outlet failed to comply. While the specific offending content was not detailed, the regulator accused the application of spreading “fakes” and “destabilizing the socio-political situation in the Russian Federation.”
The pressure targets a crucial lifeline for Russian readers seeking access to independent news. IStories launched the app in February 2026 specifically to circumvent widespread website blocking within the country. The application is designed to function inside Russia without the need for a virtual private network, or VPN, allowing users to access text and video content while updating automatically despite state interference.
Responding to the censorship threat, IStories took to the social platform X to urge its audience to download the app before tech companies could potentially comply with the removal orders. The outlet reiterated that the tool was built to deliver “important news, analysis, and investigations” during periods of “total blockouts.”
The latest demand is part of a sweeping, yearslong crackdown on independent media and digital freedom in Russia. Since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russian authorities have systematically blocked independent news sites, restricted access to major social media platforms, and aggressively pressured international technology companies to limit Russian users’ access to anti-censorship tools.
There is precedent for tech companies bowing to Moscow's legal pressure. In late 2024, Apple removed the app for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, known as Svoboda, from its Russian App Store following a similar directive from Roskomnadzor. At the time, the regulator justified the removal by claiming the app contained materials from an organization whose activities the state had legally designated as “undesirable.”
