Telegram App Store Removal Reported Globally
CEO Pavel Durov says the messaging app was pulled after Apple alerted the company that "inappropriate content" was available to users, with a senior executive confirming the presence of child sexual abuse material.
Apple has removed all versions of the Telegram messaging app from its App Store globally, founder and CEO Pavel Durov confirmed early Wednesday. “We were alerted by Apple that inappropriate content was made available to our users and both apps were taken off the App Store,” Durov wrote on Twitter, referring to the main Telegram app and the recently launched experimental client Telegram X. “Once we have protections in place we expect the apps to be back on the App Store.”
In an email shared by 9to5Mac, Apple executive Phil Schiller provided more detail. “The Telegram apps were taken down off the App Store because the App Store team was alerted to illegal content, specifically child pornography, in the apps,” Schiller wrote. “After verifying the existence of the illegal content the team took the apps down from the store, alerted the developer, and notified the proper authorities, including the NCMEC (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children).”
Schiller added that Apple worked with Telegram to have the content removed and the offending users banned. “Only after it was verified that the developer had taken these actions and put in place more controls to keep this illegal activity from happening again were these apps reinstated on the App Store,” he said. By late afternoon GMT, Durov announced that both apps had returned to the store.
Telegram markets itself as a secure alternative to apps like WhatsApp, with end-to-end encryption for “secret chats” and self-destructing messages. UK Prime Minister Theresa May recently singled out Telegram in a speech, saying that “smaller platforms can quickly become home to criminals and terrorists. We have seen that happen with Telegram.” Telegram has defended its moderation practices.
In a statement to Mashable, the company said that between January 6 and January 14, its moderators “blocked 182 public communities related to the U.S. from disseminating calls for violence which could have otherwise reached tens of thousands of subscribers.” However, the company’s FAQ states that it does not process complaints regarding private one-on-one or group chats. Durov noted on Twitter that every day over 500,000 users download Telegram for Android and roughly 100,000 for iOS.
The Android versions of both apps remained available on Google Play throughout the incident.
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Research and drafting assisted by iFANN Intelligence
- Apple has removed all versions of the Telegram messaging app from its App Store globally, founder and CEO Pavel Durov confirmed early Wednesday.confirmed
- “We were alerted by Apple that inappropriate content was made available to our users and both apps were taken off the App Store,” Durov wrote on Twitter, referring to the main Telegram app and the recently launched experimental client Telegram X.confirmed
- “Once we have protections in place we expect the apps to be back on the App Store.”confirmed
- In an email shared by 9to5Mac, Apple executive Phil Schiller provided more detail.confirmed
- “The Telegram apps were taken down off the App Store because the App Store team was alerted to illegal content, specifically child pornography, in the apps,” Schiller wrote.confirmed
- “After verifying the existence of the illegal content the team took the apps down from the store, alerted the developer, and notified the proper authorities, including the NCMEC (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children).”confirmed
- Schiller added that Apple worked with Telegram to have the content removed and the offending users banned.confirmed
- “Only after it was verified that the developer had taken these actions and put in place more controls to keep this illegal activity from happening again were these apps reinstated on the App Store,” he said.confirmed
- By late afternoon GMT, Durov announced that both apps had returned to the store.confirmed
- Telegram markets itself as a secure alternative to apps like WhatsApp, with end-to-end encryption for “secret chats” and self-destructing messages.confirmed
- UK Prime Minister Theresa May recently singled out Telegram in a speech, saying that “smaller platforms can quickly become home to criminals and terrorists. We have seen that happen with Telegram.”confirmed
- Telegram has defended its moderation practices.confirmed
- In a statement to Mashable, the company said that between January 6 and January 14, its moderators “blocked 182 public communities related to the U.S. from disseminating calls for violence which could have otherwise reached tens of thousands of subscribers.”confirmed
- However, the company’s FAQ states that it does not process complaints regarding private one-on-one or group chats.confirmed
- Durov noted on Twitter that every day over 500,000 users download Telegram for Android and roughly 100,000 for iOS.confirmed
- The Android versions of both apps remained available on Google Play throughout the incident.confirmed
