Telegram was removed from App Store over child pornography: Apple
What's the story
Last week, secure instant messaging app Telegram and its faster counterpart Telegram X was removed from Apple's App Store due to the circulation of "inappropriate content" through the platform. Now, it has been confirmed that the "inappropriate content" was child pornography after an e-mail exchange between a Telegram user and Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller was made public.
Quote
Apple also alerted the US govt agency for child protection
"After verifying the existence of the illegal content, the team took the apps down from the store, alerted the developer, and notified the proper authorities, including the NCMEC (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children)," Schiller said in the e-mail.
Details
Telegram had fixed the app in less than a day
When Telegram was alerted about child pornography being distributed via its mobile app, the company put fixes in place and the app had returned to the App Store in about one day. According to reports, it is possible the illegal content was not simply being forwarded from one user to another in media format but was coming from a third-party plug-in used by Telegram.
Background
All communication on Telegram is end-to-end encrypted
Advocating user privacy and protection, Telegram is a secure messaging platform, which means that all communication on the app is end-to-end encrypted. However, the app has a history of being time and again used by criminals and terrorists due to the very feature. Because of this, Telegram often faces harsh criticism from governments for failing to prevent anti-social elements from misusing the app.
Context
Telegram infamous for being misused by criminals
Last year itself, the app faced ban threats in Russia and Indonesia for not being able to block ISIS propaganda and other unlawful content from spreading through the platform. In March 2017 too, it was reported that Telegram was being used by Islamic State militants in Pakistan to communicate without being traceable by the authorities.