Russian authorities determined that Apple violated antitrust laws; the technology company disagreed and will appeal Russia’s decision.
Russia’s Federal Antitrust Service (FAS) reported on Tuesday that it fined US tech giant Apple $ 12 million for alleged abuse of its dominant position in the mobile app market .
The FAS said that Apple’s distribution of mobile apps through its iOS operating system resulted in a competitive advantage for its own products.
Apple said it disagrees with the ruling and will appeal in due course, the TASS news agency reported.
Western tech companies have come under increasing pressure in Russia in recent months.
The social network Twitter was punitively slowed down for failing to remove content Moscow says is illegal, while Alphabet-owned Google, Facebook and TikTok have come under fire.
“On April 26, 2021, the Russian FAS imposed a billing fine on Apple Inc of 906.3 million rubles ($ 12.1 million) for violating antitrust laws ,” the FAS said in a statement.
The FAS investigation followed a complaint from cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab, which claimed that Apple’s operating system rejected a new version of its Safe Kids application.
The FAS statement referred to August 2020, when it determined that Apple abused its dominant position and said it would issue an order requiring the company to resolve violations of regulations.