Apple removed Telegram from its App Store globally on August 3 after a review found child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on the platform, then restored the app hours later after Telegram deleted the content and banned the user who posted it.
“We briefly removed Telegram from the App Store after our review found content that violates our strict guidelines prohibiting child sexual abuse material. The app was subsequently restored after the developer promptly removed the content and banned the user who posted it,” an Apple spokesperson told 9 to 5Mac.
The takedown played out as follows:
- New users could not download Telegram during the removal.
- Existing users kept access throughout.
- The app remained available on the Mac App Store and Google Play.
- Apple applied the removal across multiple countries, including South Korea.
What Telegram said: Telegram confirmed that the app had returned to the App Store without explaining the removal. Its official X account posted, “Reports of my demise are greatly exaggerated,” followed by an Apple emoji.
The company disputed Apple’s framing in a statement to Forbes. “Apple reported one user sharing CSAM that was immediately banned. Telegram has removed more than 337,900 groups and channels related to CSAM in 2026,” it said.
Telegram also questioned whether Apple would hold every app to the same standard, tagging the company on X and asking, “I’m sure this stance will be applied equally to all other apps in the store, in the future right?” It linked to its safety page documenting CSAM takedowns.
Apple has done this before:
- February 2018: Apple pulled Telegram globally over what it classified as inappropriate content. Founder Pavel Durov said Apple flagged the content, and Telegram added protections before the app returned.
- 2024: Apple removed Telegram from the Chinese App Store, alongside WhatsApp, Threads, and Signal, following an order from the country’s internet regulator. The removal remains in effect.
Why it matters: The takedown routes CSAM enforcement through Apple’s App Store rather than through Telegram’s own moderation systems or a government blocking order. Apple acts as the gatekeeper above the app, deciding its availability based on content surfaced during its review.
That contrasts with how Indian authorities have approached Telegram:
- MeitY blocked the platform in India until June 22 under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination, after channels allegedly circulated leaked question papers.
- A separate order required Telegram to disable the message-editing feature for previously sent messages until June 30.
Defending that block before the Delhi High Court, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta called Telegram the “new dark web.” The Court upheld the order as proportionate, holding that Section 69A allows the Centre to block an entire application, not just specific content.
Telegram challenged the block as disproportionate, saying it had taken down unlawful NEET-related links and used artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning tools, and manual moderation to identify violations.
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