Apple briefly removes Telegram from App store over child abuse content

The popular messaging app was taken down from the iPhone and iPad App Stores without any announcement on Monday evening, preventing new users from downloading it.

Existing users were able to continue using Telegram during this period, before the app was eventually restored on the App Store later on Monday night.

In a statement issued to various outlets, Apple said it had removed Telegram after a review found “content that violates our strict guidelines prohibiting child sexual abuse material.”

The iPhone maker added that the messaging app was restored to the App Store after the platform “promptly removed the content and banned the user who posted it.”

Telegram’s official X account, whose recent posts are mostly memes and jokes, reacted to the restoration by tweeting: “reports of my demise are greatly exaggerated,” followed by the Apple emoji.

In an emailed statement shared with Forbes, Telegram said: “Apple reported one user sharing CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material) that was immediately banned. Telegram has removed more than 337,900 groups and channels related to CSAM in 2026.”

In a post on X, the messaging platform took a swipe at Apple’s statement by tagging the company and saying: “I’m sure this stance will be applied equally to all other apps in the store, in the future right?” 

Both the post and the emailed statement included a link to Telegram’s safety overview page highlighting the number of CSAM related takedowns, including the 29,640 removals in 2025 conducted after reports from NGOs like the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Even though the app was restored after a short ban, Tim Sweeney, the billionaire co-founder and CEO of the gaming company Epic Games called out Apple’s handling of the matter.

He wrote: "Apple's App Store desperately needs competition worldwide. Apple capriciously removes a vital communication and privacy tool from availability to a billion users, and sadly this is business as usual.” 

He added: “Apple has stated they removed the app from availability to a billion users because a Telegram user posted something horrible and illegal…Such arbitrary policy enforcement, by a monopoly gatekeeper, creates a perfect storm of fear and acquiescence by developers who are victims of Apple’s monopoly.”

Late last month, Russian authorities charged Telegram’s CEO and founder Pavel Durov with aiding terrorism amid an ongoing broader crackdown by the country on major internet platforms.

Last week, Australia’s internet safety watchdog initiated legal action against Telegram for allegedly failing to take down extremist content from the platform, including videos of white supremacist mass shootings and beheadings carried out by ISIS. 

Telegram dismissed the allegations and said it plans to “contest them in court.”