Telegram CEO says extortionist planted illegal content that triggered App Store removal
Pavel Durov, Telegram’s CEO, has elaborated on what led to the app’s brief removal from the App Store last night. Here’s what he said.
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov explained the recent brief removal of the app from the App Store. Telegram vanished from the App Store without warning, sparking speculation about political motives or the app's use of an obfuscated private API. Apple later contacted 9to5Mac, confirming the removal was due to a CSAM violation. Telegram's CEO clarified that the incident was a result of a takedown extortion scam.
The attacker inserted AI-modified illegal content into an active group chat, hiding it from members to avoid immediate reporting. The attacker demanded ransom from group owners to prevent the removal of their communities. Durov warned that this tactic poses a systemic risk to mobile apps that host user-generated content, potentially affecting communities across social platforms.
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- Apple says it "briefly removed Telegram from the App Store" over CSAM on Monday, restoring it after Telegram "promptly removed the content and banned the user" (Marcus Mendes/9to5Mac) 9to5mac.com
