Telegram CEO Says Extortionist Manipulated Apple Into App Store Removal

[uacd]

Interesting how they said "the user was banned"

So they did this with one account?

What happens when someone plans this properly - with thousands of accounts all controlled by AI agents - posting messages in various groups for months and then unleashes the attack - it's no longer one account to block, you've got potentially hundreds, if not thousands all queued up - the worst spam attack known to man...

Simple: because he is lying. It is very simple these days to blame anything on AI. In fact platform is full of pervs, p**os, other dangerous people who need to be locked down forever. Those are real and human (unfortunately, the worst representatives of our kind). And well, Durov got no other cards to pull but classic marketing bluff, tuned for new AI reality

 

[uacd]

I wonder which extortionist allowed Grok to create CSAM, pushed Musk to defend it with all he got and then pushed Apple to not take down that app for it.

I am not defending Musk or his useless company but here are my 5 cents.

CSAM is a real content with real people being abused. Everyone creating, sharing or storing such content is liable under the law.

“CSAM imitation” (including anime with people who look alike like children) is a grey area and very controversial, but since no real human being is harmed in the process, companies seemingly don’t care. In our understanding it is indeed immoral and ugly, but law only means real people, not generated or created

 

[Dr McKay]

I mean if a scammer wants to talk, it's almost always on telegram, you can see that... idk why but it is

All the scammers I encounter send me iMessages 🤷‍♂️

 

[germanbeer007]

Apple treats you differently when you're not the worlds richest person.

Did you even read what Durov said?

"Extortionists have found a way to manipulate Apple into overreacting. Apple removed Telegram from the App Store before contacting us. "

If extortionists use the same method, Grok and X would be removed, or had extortionist not found the way against Telegram, Apple would have not pulled Telegram from the store.

I'm not sure what the "world's richest person" has to do with any of this. It seems to me you want X and Grok to be treated with extra scrutiny simply because Elon is "the world's richest person".

 

[mr.bone]

Telegram is where a lot of bad things happen. In my country and Asia, it is where online scams mainly happen, worse there are many private sex videos groups where people sell revenge porn, hidden cam video etc. Pirate video groups there are just perty crimes. Unsurprisingly, these are the main reasons why it becomes very popular in some Asian countries.

 

[mw360]

Your premise is incorrect. Durov stated “Apple removed the app before contacting us”. So zero communication to resolve the issue. Telegram have proven how forceful they have been removing illegal content. You think Meta or X would be treated the same? Illegal content is plastered all over those platforms year on year too. Being consistent would help ones argument.

That's not my premise, it's an inference. And it isn't contradicted by saying there was zero communication before Apple withdrew the app.

I said there was enough communication to clear up the matter swiftly and I stand by that. 40 minutes is an extremely quick resolution if Telegram and Apple were not talking to each other.

 

[ZiBart]

This is why the mass exodus of employees leaving for Meta, OpenAI, and etc!

It’s the added zeros to their paycheques, not corporate behaviours you speak of. You really think Meta has better corporate behaviour, practices and ethics? lol. And Open AI who is currently being sued for what seems like an active (allegedly) recruitment of employees who can steal secrets. Because that’s acceptable competitive behaviour if proven to be true? Or that they are massively overpaying for everything with tens of billions in losses every year, is that more financially prudent stakeholder MBA school behaviour? Does it help you and me, who have to pay more for tech because they are overpaying and hogging ram and storage supplies with share holder money? Especially when many are predicting the AI bubble created by this behaviour, will burst.

Sort of how I feel about Apple; love Apple, hate Tim Crook and his executive team’s policies of anticompetitive behaviors and practices. Compete because you can win, not because you can monetize every cent to give to shareholders while screwing over every other stakeholder. This is why the mass exodus of employees leaving for Meta, OpenAI, and etc! As a customer, I can only hope Ternus finds a better path. As of right now I cringe with every dollar I give Apple. I want to feel better about my purchases with Apple. But it’s going to take a lot of change and goodwill on Apple’s behalf to right the wrongs of the past 16 years with Crook at the helm. Crook has been amazing for shareholders, but everyone else got the shaft. In MBA school, we were taught to care for all stakeholders, Cook got the memo, but greed won him over.

Most of these policies, existed before Cook. And most of these policies or other iterations, are used as competitive strategies by every other corporation within arms reach of Apple’s size and influence.

 

[tomtad]

Yea, just get rid of this app already

 

[Happy_John]

Bad for Telegram, but the said material WAS on their platform. Why it was there does not change the fact it was there, and the resulting removal of the app from the App Store was because said material was hosted by Telegram.

Incompetence is not a lesser failure than maliciousness, if the result is the same.

 

[iMac The Knife]

A 'takedown extortionist', eh? Haha, I've heard everything now! 😂

 

[StuBeck]

I wonder which extortionist allowed Grok to create CSAM, pushed Musk to defend it with all he got and then pushed Apple to not take down that app for it.

Same extortion that allowed X to have an app name changed approved which goes against naming rules in the App store.

 

[jimbobb24]

I wonder which extortionist allowed Grok to create CSAM, pushed Musk to defend it with all he got and then pushed Apple to not take down that app for it.

I wonder why users bring completely imaginary fantasies into articles just so they can remind us all how much they still really hate that guy....

 

[jimbobb24]

Those practices were in place long before Tim. When you’re a small fish, it easier to spin it differently. But once you become a multi-trillion-dollar whale, every move is evil.

When caring for shareholders is the objective, it’s impossible for greed not to win out. I’m pretty sure “shareholders” is French for “greedy mo-fos.”

I am an apple shareholder and if you have any portfolio or 401K there is a 95% chance you are too. Apple is a very common part of a modern portfolio. I didnt know I was a greedy mo fo for taking advantage of my companies retirement plan....but the more you know.

 

[Astuces iOS]

All the scammers I encounter send me iMessages 🤷‍♂️

iMessage or phone number… it’s most likely phone number ! (Same app, not same thing)

 

[jlc1978]

Not really because the messages aren't encrypted by default and edited messages don't get new notifications so you'd have be aware that a new message was going to be present in an edit in advance.

However, if you have a predetermined signal to go back and look, seemingly innocuous messages can be used to pass info surreptitiously. In some ways, it's the modern equivalent of the WWII BBC broadcasts where a message or song was a signal that something is set in motion.

Messaging apps that allow edits are actually useful for such actions, since people tend not to repeatedly scroll through a thread, online boards like MR were new readers come in at various points in the discussion. Telegram should just not allow editing as a fix.

 

[serzhs]

Telegram doesn’t have effective moderation. There are multiple channels and individuals selling drugs and distributing explicit illegal content. Telegram never removes this content and never blocks individuals doing it inspite of multiple reports

 

[iPhoneFan5349]

Regardless of the reason the content was there, Apple's process doesn't seem like an overreaction. It was unavailable for download for 40 minutes. Nobody's usage of the app already on their device was interrupted. The issue was dealt with and it was restored.

Seriously, WHERE is this overreaction they speak of?

It’s unprecedented isn’t it? When I read the news I really didn’t understand it. Are you telling me Apple is actively monitoring every user account? It was strange how they said they banned the app worldwide for the content of just one use. Excuse me? What do you means with that? If that’s the case then every user generated content app would be removed

 

[KENESS]

Remove an app used by millions IS an overreaction. This could easily have happened with any other app with user generated content. The files in questions were not bundled with the app, they were added by users. Is Apple going to remove itself from the AppStore because Safari can browse to websites with illegal content?

They didn't DISABLE IT for people who already had it... They just prevented NEW downloads. For ONLY 40 minutes while they sorted out a serious situation!

FFS people...

 

[turbineseaplane]

You are saying Apple should have a policy where they leave an app they know has child porn up while they wait to hear back from the developer? Seriously?

Well, we are still waiting on the takedowns of X and Grok ... so .... 😬

 

[turbineseaplane]

Telegram doesn’t have effective moderation. There are multiple channels and individuals selling drugs and distributing explicit illegal content. Telegram never removes this content and never blocks individuals doing it inspite of multiple reports

That's my favorite part about it.
It's an excellent place to keep up on iOS sideloading sources. 😀

 

[KENESS]

Well, we are still waiting on the takedowns of X and Grok ... so .... 😬

While I absolutely agree with you about X, two wrongs don't make a right.

 

[turbineseaplane]

While I absolutely agree with you about X, two wrong don't make a right.

They'll never kick those off.
That situation isn't about moderation of content, it's about scale, size and the leverage various parties have.

It's part of why so many of us have a hard time with Apple marketing privacy and quality control so much. Whether they actually enforce their own supposed standards has proven to be highly conditional.

 

[KENESS]

They'll never kick those off.
That situation isn't about moderation of content, it's about scale, size and the leverage various parties have.

It's part of why so many of us have a hard time with Apple marketing privacy and quality control so much. Whether they actually enforce their own supposed standards has proven to be highly conditional.

Yes.

I wish people's outrage over Apple's action here, where they actually handled it well, was directed to something more legitimate, like their lack of action with Twitter.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Next up for removal...

Meta Apps!

NEW: Meta reviewed, approved, and ran more than 50 ads containing AI-generated child sexual abuse material across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Threads. They ran for nine months. Some were live this week. After WIRED asked about them, researchers found ~30 more

Oh, that's different because it's Meta?
Oh .. interesting Apple, interesting..

 

[Dr McKay]

iMessage or phone number… it’s most likely phone number ! (Same app, not same thing)

It's always an iMessage from an email account.