The unexpected disappearance of Telegram from the App Store sparked a wave of questions among users worldwide. Shortly after, Apple officially revealed the reason for the temporary removal of the popular messaging app.
According to the company, the app was pulled from publication after materials were discovered during review that violated App Store rules regarding content related to child sexual exploitation.
After the Telegram team promptly removed the prohibited content and blocked the user who posted it, the app became available for download again.
Apple stated:
“We temporarily removed Telegram from the App Store after we discovered content during a review that violated our strict rules prohibiting materials containing child sexual exploitation. The app was subsequently restored after the developer promptly removed the content and blocked the user who posted it.”
Interestingly, about twenty minutes before this statement was published, Telegram posted a playful post on X, writing: “Reports of my demise are greatly exaggerated 🍎.” At that time, the company’s representatives either did not know or had not yet disclosed the official reason for the app’s disappearance.
During the incident, users from several countries reported that Telegram had stopped appearing in App Store searches on iPhone and iPad. However, the already installed app continued to work, the macOS version remained available, and no restrictions were observed in the Google Play store.
This is not the first time such a situation has occurred. In 2018, Apple also removed Telegram from the App Store after detecting content that violated the platform’s rules. At that time, the messenger’s founder Pavel Durov said the service had strengthened its moderation system, after which the app was restored to the store.
Subsequently, Telegram has also faced restrictions in different countries. In 2023, the service was temporarily blocked in Brazil for refusing to provide information related to an investigation into groups suspected of promoting violence in schools.
In 2024, Telegram was removed from the Chinese App Store at the request of the state internet regulator. Along with it, WhatsApp, Threads, and Signal also disappeared from Apple’s store.
This time, the situation was resolved relatively quickly. After the identified violation was addressed, Telegram reappeared in the App Store, and Apple officially confirmed that the reason for the temporary removal was the app’s non-compliance with content moderation requirements, rather than a technical error or a policy change regarding the messenger itself.
