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

The Telegram CEO says Apple made the app unavailable for download without any warning.

Pavel Durov, Telegram’s CEO, has elaborated on what led to the app’s brief removal from the App Store last night. Here’s what he said.

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov blames an extortionist for planting child sexual abuse material (CSAM) in a public chat to get the app temporarily removed from Apple's App Store on Monday night. "Apple removed Telegram from the App Store before contacting us," Durov says in a post on X. "This creates a potential systemic risk

Apple removed Telegram from its app store on Monday, before reinstating the app not long after.

Telegram, which has more than a billion monthly active users, says it has a zero-tolerance policy for material on child sexual abuse, blocking nearly 338,000 groups and channels over such items this year.

Apple has confirmed that Telegram was temporarily removed from the App Store after a review found content violating its guidelines.

Telegram Briefly Removed From Apple’s App Store Over Alleged Child Sexual Abuse Content  Forbes

Telegram says app restored on Apple's App Store  Reuters