Judge orders Google to shut down mobile app on Catalonia referendum

Google must take down a mobile phone app that tells Catalan voters where they could vote for Sunday’s independence referendum, a judge has ordered.

The decree was issued by Mercedes Armas of the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia, the magistrate who is leading the legal fight against the referendum, the Europa Press news agency reported on Friday.

It concerns the “On Votar 1-Oct’’ app on Google Play, which Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont publicised on Twitter two days ago.

Spanish authorities have already taken down hundreds of pro-referendum websites, in what is seen by secessionists as an attack on freedom of expression.