Citing U.S. restrictions, Google removed Kaspersky Lab’s antivirus software from the Play Store and terminated developer accounts in the days leading up to the September 29 restriction deadline, according to a Kaspersky blog post yesterday. .
The decision was “based on an expanded interpretation of the U.S. restrictions,” Kaspersky wrote, insisting that the restrictions “do not prohibit the sale and distribution of Kaspersky products and services outside the United States.” are. Apps previously installed from Google Play “will continue to work fine,” the company added, but they won’t receive updates and can’t be reinstalled.
On September 27, Kaspersky forum users began reporting that the app was no longer found on Google Play. A Kaspersky employee responded two days later: “Downloads and updates for Kaspersky products are temporarily unavailable on the Google Play Store.”
Google confirmed the removal in a statement to BleepingComputer last week, writing that it was done in response to “various restrictions on Kaspersky Lab” by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security.
Google did not immediately respond to The Verge’s request for comment.
