Telegram’s Brief App Store Removal Renews Questions About Apple’s CSAM Enforcement

Apple briefly removed Telegram from the iOS App Store on Monday after finding content that violated its guidelines prohibiting child sexual abuse material, but restored the app within hours after Telegram removed the content and banned the user. Telegram CEO Pavel Durov accused Apple of overreacting to a ransom attempt, saying a user edited a message to include 'AI-modified illegal content' to get the group flagged. The incident renews questions about Apple's enforcement of CSAM policies, as Telegram has over 1 billion users and was previously removed in 2018 for similar reasons.

On Monday, Apple briefly removed the popular messaging app Telegram from the App Store for iOS devices after a report that a user was sharing illegal content. According to both Apple and Telegram CEO Pavel Durov https://t.me/durov/538 , the app — which has more than 1 billion users — was restored on the App Store within hours. But Durov accused Apple of overreacting to a ransom attempt in a group chat. In a Telegram post about the incident, Durov said a member of a public group chat edited a previously posted message and added what Durov called “AI-modified illegal content” to it in an attempt to get the group chat flagged, because its admins had presumably refused to pay a ransom. Instead, Apple removed the app from the Apple App Store entirely until the user was banned. Apple confirmed in an email to CNET that Telegram remained available in the separate Mac App Store and that users who already had Telegram downloaded were not affected. “We briefly removed Telegram from the App Store after our review found content that violates our strict guidelines prohibiting child sexual abuse material,” Apple said in a statement. “The app was subsequently restored after the developer promptly removed the content and banned the user who posted it.” Apple did not immediately respond to questions about why the Mac version of Telegram remained available for download while the mobile version was removed. A representative for Telegram declined to comment directly, instead pointing to Durov’s post https://t.me/durov/538 . Telegram warns other app developers Durov said that the extortionist manipulated Apple into an “overreaction” that led to the app’s removal, which he said occurred without warning. That could happen, he said, to other apps that include user content. “If an app used by more than a billion people can be removed from the App Store without prior warning, any app can be,” Durov wrote. Telegram’s official X account more pointedly criticized Apple’s actions in a series of posts and replies. In one, Telegram posted https://x.com/telegram/status/2084467357569970681 , “reports of my demise are greatly exaggerated,” followed by an apple emoji. In another that included a link to Durov’s post, Telegram wrote, “I’m sure this stance will be applied equally to all other apps in the store, in the future, right? @Apple.” Telegram faces an ongoing dispute https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crmrv4pnexmo with Australian authorities over content related to terrorism and child safety. After Telegram was fined AU$1 million roughly $700,000 for failing to respond to information requests, the government began pursuing additional penalties against the platform. Durov is also a target of Russian authorities https://www.nbcnews.com/world/russia/russia-charges-telegram-founder-pavel-durov-aiding-terrorism-wanted-rcna589779 , who accuse him of facilitating terrorism through Telegram. He was arrested in France in 2024 https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg703lz02l0o in connection with an investigation into Telegram’s handling of alleged criminal activity on the platform. In 2018, Apple temporarily removed Telegram https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/telegram-and-telegram-x-are-back-on-apple-app-store/ and its experimental client, Telegram X, from the App Store after determining that “inappropriate content” was available through the apps. Telegram restored additional safeguards, and Apple reinstated both apps later the same day.