Apple Briefly Removes Telegram App For Child Abuse Content

Apple briefly removed the Telegram messaging app from its App Store after finding content on the platform that violated a ban on child sexual abuse material.

The app was unavailable for some users in the US, India, Australia and Singapore but was later fully restored.

“We briefly removed Telegram from the App Store after our review found content that violates our strict guidelines prohibiting child sexual abuse material,” an Apple spokesperson said in a statement. “The app was subsequently restored after the developer promptly removed the content and banned the user who posted it.”

A Telegram spokesperson said Apple had reported one user sharing child sexual abuse material, and the user had been immediately banned. Telegram has removed more than 300,000 groups and channels related to such material this year, the spokesperson said.

Telegram’s billionaire co-founder Pavel Durov was charged in France in 2024 over accusations that he was complicit in the spread of sexual images of children and other crimes on his platform, and was initially barred from leaving the country until a travel ban was lifted last year. He has long denounced attempts to restrict Telegram.

Durov was charged by Russia last week with aiding terrorism, with Moscow accusing him of allowing the popular messaging app to be used by Ukrainian security services.

Dubai-based Telegram says it has more than 1 billion monthly active users.