Apple CEO Tim Cook hosts Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) in San Jose, California, the United States, June 3, 2019. (Xinhua)

Russia's anti-monopoly watchdog on Thursday decided to investigate US technology company Apple for suspected "abuse of dominant market position."

The Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) said the case was initiated at the request of Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab, which complained that Apple had rejected a new version of Kaspersky Lab's parental control program Kaspersky Safe Kids (KSK).

Kaspersky Lab said in a statement that Apple had asked it to remove two key features from KSK: app control and Safari browser blocking.

After the two key KSK features were removed, Apple introduced its own parental control app, Screen Time, which was similar to Kaspersky's application.

"Apple appears to be using its position as platform owner and supervisor of the sole channel for delivering apps to users of the platform to dictate terms and prevent other developers from operating," Kaspersky Lab said.

Apple said in a statement in April that it had removed several parental control apps from its App Store because they "put users' privacy and security at risk."

The FAS will hold a hearing on the case on Sept. 13.