Durov says Telegram’s App Store removal was triggered by an extortion attack
Apple briefly removed Telegram from the App Store on the night of August 4. Telegram founder Pavel Durov has now explained what he says was behind the incident.
Telegram returned to the App Store within hours. According to Durov, the removal was not caused by a routine violation of the platform’s rules but by a deliberate attack carried out by an extortionist attempting to get a community taken down.
“Last night, Apple briefly removed Telegram from the App Store because a single user had planted illegal pornographic content in a public group chat. Telegram was restored within hours”.
Durov said Telegram removes illegal material from public groups using user reports, AI-powered filters, file fingerprints and other moderation tools.
According to him, the attacker tried to prevent members of the group from noticing the content by editing an old message in an active chat and inserting AI-modified illegal material. This effectively hid the post from most users, making it less likely to be spotted and reported quickly.
“[…] the attacker had to resort to a technical trick. He inserted AI-modified illegal content by editing an old message in an active group chat. As a result, the content was effectively hidden from the group’s members, preventing them from seeing and promptly reporting it.”
Durov described the attacker as a “takedown extortionist.” According to him, such actors demand money from owners of public groups in exchange for not planting prohibited material in their communities.
If administrators refuse to pay, Durov said, the extortionists use automated accounts to post illegal content and then report it directly to Apple, with the aim of getting the targeted community or even the entire app removed from the App Store.
“These extortionists use automated accounts to plant illegal content in public groups and then report it directly to Apple, attempting to trigger the removal of legitimate communities whose owners refused to pay them”.
Durov argued that illegal pornographic content is not a systemic problem in Telegram’s public groups. In his view, the need to use old, barely visible messages and other technical tricks shows that the platform’s existing moderation measures are effective.
He pointed to two broader concerns. The first involves Apple, which Durov said removed Telegram from the App Store before contacting the company. The second is the evolving tactics of takedown extortionists, which he believes could be used against communities on other social platforms as well.
According to Durov, Telegram has previously dealt with coordinated groups using mass reports and prohibited content to target public communities, while other platforms may be less prepared for similar attacks.
“Extortionists have found a way to manipulate Apple into overreacting. Apple removed Telegram from the App Store before contacting us. 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.
— The tactics used by takedown extortionists are evolving, putting communities across social platforms at risk. Telegram has extensive experience identifying the tricks used by coordinated reporting gangs and protecting legitimate communities (even when doing so risks our own app being temporarily removed from the App Store). Other platforms may not be equally prepared.
Stay vigilant! ☝️”
Apple has not publicly explained why Telegram was temporarily removed from the App Store.