A transparency group has found that Apple and Google have reportedly allowed dozens of apps belonging to entities and individuals sanctioned by the U.S. government to be distributed through the App Store and Play Store.
According to a report by The Washington Post, the list of these apps was compiled by the Tech Transparency Project (TTP), a nonprofit advocacy group, and includes at least 18 problematic apps on the Play Store and 52 on Apple’s App Store. These apps are reportedly linked to Russian banks blacklisted after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, a Chinese construction company operating in repressive Xinjiang, and a Houthi-linked bank in Yemen.
The names of these entities and individuals appear on the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, which is maintained by the U.S. Treasury Department to prevent American companies from doing business with hostile foreign firms and individuals.
Google removed all but one of the problematic apps, including those belonging to the Russian government-owned Gazprombank, which was sanctioned for its role in weapons trading following the Ukraine conflict. “Google is committed to compliance with applicable sanctions and trade compliance laws and enforces related policies under our Terms of Service,” a Google spokesman told The Post.
Apple also removed 35 problematic apps from the App Store in two phases, but it did not acknowledge that all the flagged apps were in violation of the sanctions.
One of the apps removed from the App Store reportedly belongs to Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, which has been linked to Beijing’s efforts to target ethnic and religious minority groups, including the Uyghurs. The Post says some apps attempt to conceal their true identities by slightly altering the names from those on the Treasury list or by using corporate abbreviations.
Apple had reportedly pledged in 2019 to take a tougher stance against such apps. At the time, the Treasury Department could have fined Apple $70 million, but both sides settled for less than $1 million because Apple had self-reported the issue.