Apple company complied with the demands of Russian authorities and closed access to the popular gay dating app Hornet for all Russian accounts in the AppStore. Hornet announced attempts to return to the marketplace.
The app disappeared from the store on Saturday, readers of the largest Russian LGBT-media «Parni+» noticed. Shortly thereafter, Hornet sent a plea to all users in Russia and neighboring countries not to delete the application, which could not be reinstalled.
«The Hornet app is currently unavailable for installation in Russia due to temporary restrictions. If you delete the app, you will not be able to download it again. Your access to the current app remains,» the letter said.
In response to a request from «Parni+», a Hornet representative confirmed that the removal is due to the demands of Roskomnadzor — the Russian state censorship body. Judging by the response, Hornet hopes to change the regulator’s mind:
«Hornet was removed from the App Store in Russia by Apple in response to a removal order issued by the Roskomnadzor agency. This removal applies to new downloads and updates for users in Russia.
We are currently in communication with both Apple and Roskomnadzor to better understand the specifics of the order and to work toward having Hornet reinstated in the App Store as soon as possible,» said the company’s marketer, Victor Sevilla, in the response.
Mr. Sevilla also noted that Hornet has not yet received warnings about blocking from the Google Play Store, but the company «can’t fully rule out» the possibility of such a scenario.
Hornet is the most popular app for male dating in Russia, significantly surpassing Grindr and other platforms in audience. Roskomnadzor already restricted access to the app at the level of communication providers in 2023, and for the last two years, Russians have had to use a VPN to access the app. However, they were at least able to install and update the application.
Parni+ did not receive answers to questions related to the blocking from Apple and Roskomnadzor.
