Telegram is a messaging service that aims to compete with Facebook Messenger, Skype, and WhatsApp. However, the company has been embroiled in several controversies over the year. Maybe the Russian non-profit is mixed in another scandal today. Apple has removed two Telegram apps from its App Store.
Now, Telegram has had two of its apps removed from Apple's App Store for featuring “inappropriate content”. The company's CEO, Pavel Durov, took to Twitter to confirm the apps have been removed.
The removal came the same day the Telegram X app was launched. This new client gives developers tools to “quickly test new approaches and technologies”, and is built from a new code base. Just hours after the app arrived on the App Store, it was removed, along with the regular Telegram app.
In his tweet, Durov suggested the content in question was not from the company. He said once the offensive material is removed, the apps will likely return to the App Store. Interestingly, the apps remain intact on the Google Play Store and Telegram X has already scored over 100,000 downloads.
We were alerted by Apple that inappropriate content was made available to our users and both apps were taken off the App Store. Once we have protections in place we expect the apps to be back on the App Store.
— Pavel Durov (@durov) February 1, 2018
Terrorist Link
Last summer, Telegram came under investigation from Russian regulators. The country said the messaging service was favored by terrorist cells. Regulator Roskomnadzor threatened to block Telegram unless valuable information was released.
The regulator said the platform had given “terrorists the opportunity to create secret chat rooms with a high degree of encryption.”
Russia claimed the app is the most widely used of its kind within terrorist networks. However, no data or evidence was presented to back up the claim.
Telegram founder Pavel Durov responded to the regulatory action in a social media post at the time. He said the FSB has also requested total access to decrypt user messages to catch attackers. Durov also accused authorities of going against the Russian constitution.
