Telegram back in App Store after removal for 'inappropriate content'
Messaging app Telegram mysteriously vanished from the App Store on Thursday because "inappropriate content was made available to our users" according to the company's CEO Paval Durov.
In response to a Twitter user, Durov tweeted that the company was "alerted by Apple" and as a result of the unspecified "inappropriate content," both the Telegram app and Telegram X (a faster, more reliable version) were removed from the App Store.
SEE ALSO:WhatsApp just fixed a huge problem with its Android appDurov said both apps would return to the App Store after "we have protections in place." The apps returned to the App Store on Thursday afternoon.
Apps are temporarily removed from the App Store all the time, but Telegram's removal has everyone wondering why?
Tweet may have been deleted
Mashable has contacted both Telegram and Apple for more specifics on what the "inappropriate content" could have been, and we'll update this story if we get more info.
But my colleague, Senior Editor Stan Schroeder, has a theory. He suggests the apps' removals could be related to rampant pornography.
"On certain channels with a very high population, spam can sometimes get out of control, and some of that spam includes nudes or porn."
Here's an example of random pornographic images posted to a Telegram channel called Medicalchain:
Credit: Screenshot: Stan schroeder/mashablePornographic posts are especially abundant during an initial coin offering (ICO), although it's not clear why this posting behavior happens.
"People come to Telegram to get info about the ICO," Schroeder said. "Then something typically goes wrong. Then everyone starts spamming crap. And then people start spamming nude asians (for some reason)."
And though Schroeder tells me the moderators usually delete the onslaught of incoming pornographic spam, it's virtually impossible to police these kinds of posts when dozens of messages are coming in every second in channels that can sometimes have tens of thousands of users.
Whatever the reason is (even if it is porn), the question is: How would inappropriate content posted to Telegram be any different than, say, posted to Reddit?
Dumb as it sounds, it could be a matter of simple labeling and presentation. According to Apple's App Store guidelines, apps must include several methods to filter "objectionable material from being posted to the app and allow for users to report offensive content:
Credit: screenshot: Apple app store guidelineIn the case of Reddit, offensive and inappropriate content posted is usually clearly marked under a NSFW tag or within an appropriately labeled subreddit. Users looking at such content on Reddit know what they could potentially encounter before looking at it.
The same can't be said for users going into a Telegram channel expecting to chat about an ICO, only to be hit with nudes. If this is the reason, then the app would certainly be in clear violation of the App Store guidelines.
Update:In an email obtained by 9to5Mac, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller reportedly told a concerned user the Telegram apps were briefly removed because of child pornography:
The App Store team worked with the developer to have them remove this illegal content from the apps and ban the users who posted this horrible content. Only after it was verified that the developer had taken these actions and put in place more controls to keep this illegal activity from happening again were these apps reinstated on the App Store.
We will never allow illegal content to be distributed by apps in the App Store and we will take swift action whenever we learn of such activity. Most of all, we have zero tolerance for any activity that puts children at risk – child pornography is at the top of the list of what must never occur. It is evil, illegal, and immoral.
I hope you appreciate the importance of our actions to not distribute apps on the App Store while they contain illegal content and to take swift action against anyone and any app involved in content that puts children at risk.
Featured Video For You
Bye-bye, Bitcoin. It's all about bananacoins.
(责任编辑:行业动态)
- Unionized hospital workers pull out from strike
- Of course brands are already joking about Twitter's new 280
- Twitter accuses Vanity Fair of sexism after New Year's resolution video for Hillary Clinton
- Katy Perry, John Mayer and Taylor Swift all attended Drake's birthday party
- 11 Places to See Tiny Trains
- US Open 2024 livestream: How to watch US Open tennis for free
- Trump, Kim likely to 'reach accord' in Singapore
- H.C. Andersen’s works showcased at exhibition
- Backlash intensifies over bar exam retention
- Police bust crypto scammer who received plastic surgery to evade arrest
- Agricultural research center opens in N. Korea
- Foreign reporters on way to North Korea's nuke site [PHOTOS]
- WhatsApp begins rolling out video calling feature, but there's a catch
-
South Korean table tennis player Shin Yu-bin eats a banana before her women's singles semifinal ...[详细]
-
Chelsea can compete with City's 'winning machine': Tuchel
BARCELONA:Chelsea have to be realistic about catching up with Premier League leaders Manchester City ...[详细] -
Fate of 10,000 Pyongyang nuclear scientists up in the air
North Korean scientists work at a nuclear facility in Yongbyun, North Pyongan Province. / Korea Time ...[详细] -
镜头聚焦乡村新面貌!“百千万工程”主题摄影展在南国书香节上引关注
镜头聚焦乡村新面貌!“百千万工程”主题摄影展在南国书香节上引关注_南方+_南方plus品味岭南书香,阅见文明之光。2024年南国书香节于8月16日至20日在广州中国进出口商品交易会展馆B区盛大开幕,展 ...[详细] -
Benedict Nguyễn ,July 24, 2024 Game PlanHo ...[详细]
-
Argentina early winners as ATP Cup opens new season
SYDNEY:Spain and Argentina both won their ATP Cup ties with some ease as men's professional tenn ...[详细] -
Millie Bobby Brown's Golden Globes Instagram post about Drake is 11/10
The Millie Bobby Brown/Drake friendship is real, people.It's only been two months since Brown met Dr ...[详细] -
Bannon called that Trump Jr. meeting 'treasonous' and the internet is losing it
UPDATE: Jan. 3, 2018, 1:30 p.m. EST Updated to include Donald Trump's statement on Steve Bannon's co ...[详细] -
[Graphic News] Average book price nears 20,000 won
The cost of purchasing a book in South Korea is approaching 20,000 won ($14.80), according to recent ...[详细] -
Taylor Swift Formula 1 concert recap
AUSTIN -- The pop star had a cold.When Taylor Swift took the stage in Austin, Texas Saturday evening ...[详细]
- Malan retires from international cricket
- Blinking white guy from 'Blinking White Guy' meme speaks out on 'GMA'
- Of course brands are already joking about Twitter's new 280
- Apple finally ditches Bing, embraces Google for Siri search
- 采购商+48,英德红茶在泉城济南蹭蹭涨粉
- 20 things that will be 20 years old in 2018
- Man City's 'title to lose' after Chelsea, Liverpool share spoils