Telegram founder Pavel Durov on Tuesday accused Apple of overreacting after “extortionists” made the company briefly remove his messaging app from its App Store.
Apple told journalists on Monday that it had removed Telegram from the App Store because content involving sexual abuse was being distributed on the platform, breaching its guidelines.
“Extortionists have found a way to manipulate Apple into overreacting,” Mr Durov wrote in a statement to users, saying the iPhone maker had removed the platform from the App Store without contacting Telegram.
“This creates a potential systemic risk for every mobile app that hosts user-generated content.”
Apple said that after the ban, Telegram responded by removing the content and banning the user behind it. The app was then restored to the App Store.
Mr Durov, however, said that Apple failed to take in to account that the individual who posted the content was, in his words, a “takedown extortionist”.
“These extortionists use automated accounts to plant illegal content in public groups and then report it directly to Apple, attempting to trigger the removal of legitimate communities whose owners refused to pay them,” he said.
In response to Mr Durov’s comments, a spokesperson for Apple told The National that even though Telegram was briefly removed from the App Store, users who had already downloaded the app were unaffected and could still use it.
Although Telegram is a popular messaging platform with loyal users, it has not been without controversy.
In August, Mr Durov was arrested in France when authorities in the country accused his platform of failing to flag criminal activity on the app.
He was released, and the company made small changes to content moderation as a result.
Born and raised in Russia, Mr Durov left the country when it cracked down on Telegram. The app is severely restricted in Russia.
In 2023, Iraq’s Telecoms Ministry temporarily blocked Telegram, citing national security fears.
The Telegram platform is used by between 950 million and a billion people, according to the company. It made its debut in 2013, and highlighted privacy and encryption features that helped it to gain popularity.
