Telegram briefly pulled from the App Store over child sexual abuse material availability [U: Apple statement ]

Apple recently removed the Telegram messaging app from its iPhone App Store for a short period due to the spread of child pornography, only to re-approve it after Telegram removed the content and banned the perpetrator user. Over the years, Telegram has been the subject of various controversies, with the platform's founder Pawel Durow being arrested in France in 2024 on charges of insufficient measures against criminal misuse of the service.

Australian authorities initiated a legal process against Telegram for alleged failure to detect and remove extremist content. Telegram also plays a significant role in the Ukraine conflict, with both sides publishing information about the progress of the Russian aggression on the platform. In Russia, Durow was added to a terrorist list last week due to claims that Telegram was being used by Ukrainian intelligence services to track Russians.

Although Telegram is blocked in Russia, users can still access it via encrypted VPN connections that conceal their location.