Apple Complies With Russia’s Request To Change Map In Apps

Apple will adhere to Russia’s demands that the technology conglomerate change the way the Crimean peninsula is displayed on Apple’s Weather and Maps apps, according to BBC reports.

Apple and Russian officials have reportedly been in discussions for several months over how Crimea was labeled in the Apple Weather and Maps apps, but a consensus has apparently been reached as the territory is now labeled as part of Russia. The BBC said this change seems to be reflected on iPhones within Russia on devices set up to use the Russian version of Apple’s App Store.

“Crimea and Sevastopol now appear on Apple devices as Russian territory,” said Russia’s parliament’s lower house, the State Duma, in a statement. Reports added that the State Duma had described Apple’s previous labeling of Crimea as an “inaccuracy.”

The Duma security and anti-corruption committee’s chairman, Vasily Piskaryov, told the publication that Apple is now in adherence to Russia’s constitution, noting that labeling Crimea as a Ukrainian territory was a criminal offense.

“Today, with Apple, the situation is closed, and we have received everything we wanted,” he told the BBC.

Apple previously labeled Crimea as an undefined territory.

Russian annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. According to reports, when Apple’s Weather and Maps apps are accessed outside of Russia, Crimea is not labeled as either a Russian or Ukrainian territory.

In August reports emerged that Russian authorities had launched an investigation into Apple over alleged anticompetitive practices. The nation’s anti-monopoly authority opened a probe into whether Apple is abusing its dominant position in the market, an investigation sparked by complaints that Apple’s operating system had declined Kaspersky Lab’s parental control app Safe Kids.

In 2015 Apple agreed to Russia’s requirements imposed by 2014 legislation that all data on Russian citizens must be stored on servers within Russian borders.