Telegram CEO accuses ‘takedown extortionist’ of manipulating Apple into brief App Store removal

Apple briefly removed Telegram from its App Store late on Monday after detecting child sexual abuse material (CSAM) in a public group. The messaging app was restored within about 40 minutes once Telegram deleted the content and banned the responsible user. Telegram CEO Pavel Durov later described the incident as the work of a “takedown extortionist” who deliberately planted AI-modified illegal content to trigger the removal and pressure online communities.
According to Durov’s