Apple briefly removed Telegram from the App Store globally on Monday night after its review team found content that violated the company's strict guidelines prohibiting child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The app returned roughly 40 minutes later, after Telegram removed the offending content and banned the account responsible for posting it. The Mac Observer

Reports of the removal began circulating around 9:30 p.m. ET, with Telegram disappearing from App Store searches and its listing page returning a "page can't be found" error. MacRumors Existing users continued using the service uninterrupted throughout, and the app remained available on the Mac App Store and Google Play during the takedown. The Mac Observer The removal was applied across multiple countries, including South Korea. MEDIANAMA

Apple confirmed the action in a statement: "We briefly removed Telegram from the App Store after our review found content that violates our strict guidelines prohibiting child sexual abuse material. The app was subsequently restored after the developer promptly removed the content and banned the user who posted it." MEDIANAMA

Telegram pushed back on X, questioning whether Apple would apply the same standard evenly, posting: "I'm sure this stance will be applied equally to all other apps in the store, in the future right?" Forbes The company later added, "Reports of my demise are greatly exaggerated." MegaMobileContent In a statement to Forbes, Telegram said Apple had reported one user sharing CSAM, who was banned immediately, and noted it had removed more than 337,900 CSAM-related groups and channels in 2026 alone, alongside 29,640 removals in 2025 following reports from groups like the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Forbes

The incident reignited criticism that Apple applies its standards inconsistently — critics pointed to X's AI tool Grok, which was documented generating content described as indistinguishable from CSAM roughly seven months earlier, without X being removed from the App Store. Tech Times Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney also criticized Apple's handling of the matter, arguing the episode shows why the App Store needs more competition and questioning how Apple applies similar standards to large platforms handling content from millions of users. The Mac Observer

This isn't the first time Apple has pulled Telegram: in February 2018, Apple temporarily removed the app after discovering what it classified as "inappropriate content," with founder Pavel Durov saying Apple had alerted Telegram, prompting new safety protections before restoration. 9to5Mac Telegram has also faced other regulatory action, including a temporary ban in Brazil in 2023 over failing to share information on groups tied to school violence, and removal from China's App Store in 2024 alongside WhatsApp, Threads and Signal following a government order. 9to5Mac