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Telegram CEO says an extortionist planted CSAM in a chat to get it pulled from the App Store
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Telegram was temporarily pulled from Apple's App Store after an extortionist planted AI-modified CSAM in a public chat by editing an old message, exploiting a blind spot in both Telegram's moderation and Apple's takedown process.
Any app hosting user-generated content is exposed to the same attack vector: a bad actor edits an existing message to insert illegal content, then reports it to the platform's app store before the community can see or flag it. Apple removed Telegram without prior contact, which means the app store review process can be weaponized against competitors or communities that refuse to pay ransom.
Written by elseif from the cluster below · every claim links back to a sourceThe three things worth knowing
The attacker bypassed Telegram's moderation by editing an old message in an active group chat, making the illegal content effectively invisible to group members who could have reported it.
Apple removed Telegram from the App Store before notifying Telegram, which Durov argues creates systemic risk for any app hosting user-generated content.
Only one feed carried this story, so the claims about Apple's process and the extortion tactics come solely from Durov's account on X.
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