Telegram temporarily removed from App Store after distribution of child abuse material
Apple recently temporarily removed Telegram from the App Store worldwide after it was discovered that a user had distributed child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
An Apple spokesperson confirmed the measure and stated that the app was made available again as soon as the developer had removed the offending content and permanently blocked the responsible account.
The incident mirrors one from 2018, when the app was temporarily suspended for hosting “inappropriate content”. On that occasion, Telegram was allowed back on the platform after strengthening its security measures.
Telegram, which serves more than a billion users per month, applies a strict zero-tolerance policy towards CSAM and claims to have closed around 338,000 channels and groups this year for such violations.
After the incident, Telegram raised questions for Apple via social media, asking whether those strict standards would be applied consistently to all other available applications.
The measure sparked criticism from Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games. He argued that removing an app used by 1 billion people over one illegal post by a single user sets a dangerous precedent. Sweeney suggested that if this were the standard for suspension, virtually every large-scale communication tool, including iMessage, would struggle to function.
Meanwhile, Telegram continues to face international pressure from regulatory bodies. In April, the UK’s Ofcom launched an investigation into the platform following allegations about the spread of child abuse material. Telegram has strongly denied those allegations and states that its detection algorithms have almost completely stopped the public spread of such content since 2018.
In addition, the company was fined by Australian regulators in February for failing to respond in time to questions about its efforts to combat extremist content and child abuse material.
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