Telegram CEO says Apple temporarily removed app after illegal content report

Telegram was temporarily removed from Apple’s App Store after a user distributed illegal pornographic material in a public group chat, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov said on his personal channel. Durov said Apple temporarily took Telegram off the App Store after what he described as an organized reporting attack. He said the attacker edited existing posts to secretly insert AI-altered illegal pornographic material into a public group, then reported it directly to Apple. He added that the tactic was a typical extortion scheme in which operators of public groups are asked for money and, if they refuse, illegal content is planted and then reported to platform operators.