From now on, in Russia, the buyer of a smartphone, tablet or any other connected object will systematically find “
made in Russia
”
applications preinstalled
.
This device is made compulsory by a law promulgated at the end of 2019, which entered into force this Thursday, April 1, with almost a year of delay because of the pandemic.
According to the Russian authorities, the aim is to promote national technology companies in the face of foreign competition, in particular to guard against international sanctions imposed by the West.
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Among the pre-installed software are those of Russian internet giants Yandex and Mail.ru.
Social networks also include “Russian Facebook”, Odnoklassniki and VKontakte.
In Russia, this obligation is called the “anti-Apple law”.
The apple brand had always refused to preinstall applications other than its own on its devices.
This time, the American manufacturer agreed so as not to exclude itself from the Russian market, reports the newspaper
Vedomosti
.
"This possibility is not imposed on the consumer,"
said Vladimir Poutine.
Of course, Russian apps can actually be “unchecked” by the user.
The concern persists, however.
Some fear that the law will allow the growing control of the internet in Russia to be tightened again.