Similar to another country’s ban on a different manufacturer, the Russian restriction on Apple devices may ring a bell.

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Imagine if a government were to announce a ban on the use of certain tech devices by government officials due to concerns that those products are spying on them. Now, what if I told you that the government in question is the U.S. government and the manufacturer being banned is Huawei? You might initially think this action is justified in order to protect national security, right?
But what if I told you that we are actually talking about Russia and the manufacturer being banned is Apple? You would likely be outraged, but in a different way. According to the Financial Times (via Engadget), starting tomorrow, the Russian trade ministry will ban the use of iPhone handsets, iPad tablets, Macs, and other Apple devices for all government-related work.

Commencing tomorrow, the Russian trade ministry will impose a ban on the use of Apple products for State-related tasks

In addition to the trade ministry, other Russian agencies such as the telecommunications and mass media ministry are also working on implementing similar bans that cover all Apple devices. However, the government will still allow the use of Apple products for personal purposes, as long as they are not used for any government-related work.

Russia’s domestically developed AYYA T1 handset was not successful

The Russians claim that Apple products are spying on them, and in early last month, the country’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced that it had uncovered a “spying operation by US intelligence agencies” involving thousands of iPhone units. The FSB accused Apple of cooperating with U.S. signal intelligence to install software on these iPhone units for monitoring conversations. Despite lacking evidence to support these allegations, the Russian security agency made them nonetheless.

Apple responded by firmly stating that it has “never collaborated with any government to create a backdoor into its products, and never will.” Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Apple disabled Apple Pay in the country and subsequently stopped selling its products there.

The Russian government aims to achieve complete self-reliance in terms of domestically developed hardware and software. Last year, President Vladimir Putin issued a directive that businesses involved in “critical information infrastructure” must transition to Russian-developed software by 2025.

Why can’t we find common ground?

Earlier this year, a subsidiary of a Russian defense industry company called Rostec introduced the AYYA T1 smartphone as a substitute for the iPhone in Russia. Out of the 5,000 units produced, only 905, or 18%, were sold to Russian consumers. Retailers had to reduce the device’s price to 11,000 rubles ($140) just to break even.
At the core of this issue is a lack of trust. Whether it’s the Russian government banning Apple or the U.S. government banning Huawei, the bans are implemented because these governments simply cannot risk the possibility of their information being discovered and used against them, even if there is currently no evidence of such activities.

I wish I had the answer. As a tech news writer, this situation is disheartening. I would have been excited to experience and consider purchasing the Huawei Mate 50 Pro last year. It may be naive to hope for a resolution to these differences, but it shouldn’t stop us from desiring it.

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