A Moscow court has fined tech giant Apple for violations of Russia’s anti-LGBTQ+ propaganda laws in four separate cases.
According to LGBTQ Nation, these cases are the first brought against the company under President Vladimir Putin’s harsh anti-LGBTQ+ laws which were expanded in 2023 to prohibit the promotion of “non-traditional sexual relations.” In recent years, Putin has claimed the LGBTQ+ movement is evidence of “moral decay in Western countries.”
Apple was found guilty of four administrative offenses and fined around $130,483 in four separate cases handled by Moscow’s Tagansky Court. According to Reuters, the root of each case remains unknown as proceedings for the cases have been closed to the public and press at the company’s request.
According to Apple, and research from digital rights group GreatFire, the company removed twelve applications from the Russian App Store back in 2023. At the time, Russia’s Federal Service of Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) claimed the apps violated laws meant to silence opposition or criticism of the country’s military and war crimes.
In 2024, Apple removed almost sixty applications from the App Store at Roskomnadzor’s request. The company has submitted to Roskomnadzor’s requests since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but has been in hot water with Russia since 2023, when a Moscow court first fined the company for not removing “inaccurate” content surrounding the war in Ukraine.
Russia began their draconian crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights and expression in 2022 when President Vladimir Putin signed a law prohibiting any public expression of LGBTQ+ life in the country. In 2023, the country’s Supreme Court ruled that the LGBTQ+ movement was an “extremist organization,” after the Justice Ministry filed a lawsuit.
Following the rulings, law enforcement in major cities like Moscow began raiding gay bars, companies like Duolingo removed LGBTQ+ content from their applications, and mentions of LGBTQ+ identities and rights were banned in every corner of the country.
