Pavel Durov, CEO and creator of the Telegram platform, published statements discussing the temporary removal and subsequent reinstatement of his platform’s app on the Apple App Store. He confirmed that the incident was an extortion attack on the platform, and that Apple enabled the attacker to execute it, according to a report by the US tech site The Verge.
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In a post on the X platform, Durov explained that what happened to Telegram could happen to any other app or platform, posing a threat to all applications hosted on the store.
Apple had temporarily removed the Telegram app from its App Store following posts alleging that the application hosted explicit images involving minors and children. However, the app returned after those images were taken down.
Durov justified the incident as a deliberate attack on the platform aimed at extortion for money. Extorters managed to generate a set of AI-created images and automatically published them in an old group by editing a previous message within that group, after which they reported the incident to Apple.
According to Durov's statements, Apple did not warn the platform about user complaints or the presence of explicit images; instead, it removed the app directly without consulting the owning company.
Durov did not name any party or specify what the extorters demanded from the platform to avoid its removal from the App Store.
It is worth noting that Durov was previously arrested in France for allowing Telegram to facilitate unlawful financial transactions, and the Russian government also sought his arrest on charges that his platform facilitates terrorist activities.
Telegram is considered a platform with relaxed restrictions, where non-compliant content can easily be found.
Durov's accusations against Apple remain one-sided, as the company maintained silence and had not responded to his statement at the time of writing the report.
Durov warned that Apple's actions represent a real danger to app developers and online communities as a whole, as the company can remove any application based on a rumor or malicious allegations without conducting thorough investigations into the incidents.
This is not the first time Apple has removed an app from its App Store based on user complaints before reinstating it; it previously removed the "Upscrolled" platform founded by Palestinian Essam Hijazi, only to restore it to the App Store within hours.
It is also worth mentioning that Telegram was removed exclusively from the Apple Store and remained available for download on Android phones via the Google Play Store.
Al Jazeera + Agencies
