INTERNAL PUSHBACK

Google employees are criticizing the removal of a voting app associated with Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny just as the Russian parliamentary elections began.

Google and Apple on Friday removed an app called Smart Voting that advocated for candidates who opposed the Russian government after the companies received threats of fines and criminal persecution by the Russian government.

Internal Google forums and memegen, a messaging app that has been used for previous employee protests at Google, had images and messages seen by Bloomberg criticizing the company for bowing down to Russia’s demands.