MOSCOW, August 15. /TASS/. Apple asked Russian video hosting Rutube to either hide the content of Russian state media in its iOS application, or make the application available only to Russian users, press service of Rutube told TASS.
"Apple offers two solutions to the moderating issue with the Rutube application: either make the application available only to Russian users, or remove the ‘state-sponsored media’ content. Currently, the video hosting application is available in 171 countries," the press service said.
Apple gave two weeks to make a decision, otherwise the application will be removed from the app store, the press service explained.
The Rutube team has already restricted access to Rutube in the AppStore for users from countries other than Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus, the company explained. "The developers were forced to do this in order to give users the new functionality they are waiting for. Rutube does not plan to impose restrictions on the distribution of Russian media, as this violates the rights of the Russian-speaking population," Rutube explained.
The press service of the video hosting reminded that Rutube includes Russian media and bloggers whose channels were blocked on YouTube video hosting, including Channel One, Rossiya 1, NTV, Rossiya 24, TNT, RT, Spas, as well as the channels of Russian TV presenter Vladimir Solovyov, pranksters Vovan and Lexus, blogger Dmitry (Goblin) Puchkov and others.