Apple suddenly disabled Russians’ access to scores of podcasts by independent journalists – Meduza

Apple users registered in Russia are suddenly unable to access some podcasts produced by independent journalists at The Insider, Echo of Moscow and BBC Russian. Thursday at Mediazona reported It was stated that Russian Apple users can now play the affected podcasts only if they have previously downloaded and listened to them. Russian users who have never listened to the affected shows can no longer find them in Apple Podcasts search results.

It is unclear when Apple hid these programs from Russian users. Episodes can also be watched outside the country, and Russian users can find them by signing up or re-signing for an Apple account in a different region.

Apple halted official shipments of its devices to Russia following the large-scale invasion of Ukraine, but the company faced accusations that it unofficially cooperated with Russia’s media censorship. For example, in September 2024, Apple 98 VPN apps from its AppStore in Russia without any public notice or explanation. The technology giant is also removed from list The applications of some media organizations in Russia were blocked as “foreign agents”.