Apple removes Telegram from App Store over child abuse material
It’s back now.
Telegram app can be seen on the display of a smartphone. M. Balk/picture alliance via Getty
- Apple temporarily removed Telegram from the App Store over child sexual abuse material, then restored access after Telegram removed it.
- Telegram said Apple flagged one user, who was banned.
- The case adds to Telegram’s legal scrutiny, including Australian allegations over terrorism content and French charges involving Pavel Durov.
- The dispute matters because Telegram has more than 1 billion monthly users and faces growing pressure to police harmful content.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
Apple temporarily suspended the Telegram app from its App Store after it was revealed that the platform violated guidelines related to child sexual abuse material.
The application was unavailable to users in the US, Australia, India, and Singapore, but access was later restored after the Telegram developer removed the content and banned the user who posted it.
According to the Telegram spokesperson, Apple reported one user for sharing child sexual abuse material, but they were soon banned from the platform.
Bloomberg reports that the messaging app has already removed more than 300,000 groups and channels that distributed such content this year.
Not Telegram’s first rodeo
This isn’t the first instance in which the app has been involved in questionable situations.
Recently, it was reported that Telegram was sued by Australia’s internet regulator for failing to take down terrorism-related posts after it was warned about videos of terrorist executions and mass shootings circulating.
The platform's spokesperson said that Telegram “rejects these allegations and will contest them in court.”
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Telegram’s co-founder and CEO, Pavel Durov, was also added to the international wanted list after Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) accused him of not removing channels and bots that were used to coordinate terrorist attacks against the country.
In 2024, Durov was arrested in France on charges of involvement in cybercriminal activity on Telegram.
The CEO of Telegram was later released on a €5 million ($5.75 million) bail.
The official investigation was started after French authorities suspected that Durov was complicit in running an online platform that allows illicit transactions, drug trafficking, money laundering, images of child sex abuse, and more.
Telegram, which launched in 2013, is used by more than 1 billion monthly active users worldwide.
