Russia’s Ministry of Digital Development has banned employees from using Apple iPhones and iPads for work, Interfax news agency reported on Friday, citing Minister Maksut Shadaev.
“A ban has been imposed on using (Apple) mobile devices – smartphones and tablets – to access work applications and work email exchange,” the agency told reporters at a digital conference.
“It is allowed to use the iPhone for personal needs,” Shadev said.
The ministry issued the ban two months after claims by Russia’s main domestic security service, the FSB, that several thousands of Apple devices had been compromised as a result of a spying campaign by the US.
Apple denied the allegations. America. The National Security Agency, which the FSB said has cooperated with Apple, declined to comment on the claims at the time.
Meanwhile, Apple was recently fined by a Russian court for not removing “inaccurate” content over what Russia called a “special military operation” in Ukraine, Russian news agencies report.
On the other hand, Apple stopped selling all products in Russia and limited its Apple Pay service in Russia in February 2022, soon after Moscow sent thousands of troops to Ukraine.
Moscow has been in disputes with Big Tech for years over content, censorship, data and local representation, which escalated after Russia sent its armed forces to Ukraine.
Russia has also fined a number of other tech companies, including Alphabet’s Google, Meta’s Facebook and Wikimedia, which have been fined multiple times and previously said the information Russian authorities complained about was not properly distributed. Was sourced from and conforms to Wikipedia standards.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
