Telegram CEO says an extortionist planted CSAM in a chat to get it pulled from the App Store

Published August 4, 2026 · Category: Tech

Overview

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov blames an extortionist for planting child sexual abuse material (CSAM) in a public chat to get the app temporarily removed from Apple's App Store on Monday night. "Apple removed Telegram from the App Store before contacting us," Durov says in a post on X. "This creates a potential systemic risk for every mobile app that hosts user-generated content. If an app used by more than a billion people can be removed from the App Store without prior warning, any app can be."

Durov adds, "Extortionists have found a way to manipulate Apple into overreacting." Apple didn't immediately respond to The Verge's request for comment.

Read the full story at The Verge.

Source

Originally published at www.theverge.com.

Related Articles

• Nvidia doesn’t mess around: A week after open AI industry group formed, it’s already showing progress
• Lenovo’s Legion Go S with SteamOS is down to its lowest price ever
• China is Tesla's cash cow, but for how much longer?