Why does Apple consistently ban Telegram but not X?
This week, Telegram experienced a brief but significant disappearance from Apple’s App Store, a shocking event for an app that serves over a billion users globally, particularly in regions where censorship is prevalent. Apple later clarified that the app was removed due to the presence of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and was reinstated once that content was eliminated.
This incident reignited discussions about Apple’s content moderation policies and its treatment of different platforms. A notable comparison arose with X, the platform owned by Elon Musk, which remained available on the App Store despite facing issues with sexualized AI-generated images of children. The disparity in treatment raises questions about the underlying reasons for Telegram’s removal versus X’s continued presence.
Experts suggest that the answer may be more political than technical. Anupam Chander, a law and technology professor, pointed out that enforcing strict moderation policies can lead to significant backlash. Both Telegram and X have faced their share of controversies, with Telegram, based in Dubai, known for its lax content moderation approach. In recent years, various governments have pressured Telegram to remove content and impose stricter controls. For instance, in 2017, the app began taking down “terrorist-related content” after threats from Indonesia, and in 2022, Germany considered banning it over hate speech allegations. Tensions escalated in 2024 when French authorities arrested Telegram’s CEO, Pavel Durov, accusing him of complicity in illegal activities related to CSAM, with an ongoing inquiry as of last year. Russia has also charged Durov with facilitating terrorism, claiming he allows Ukrainian spies to use Telegram for planning attacks, to which he responded defiantly.
In light of these pressures, Telegram has tightened its content moderation policies, revising its approach to private messaging, discontinuing certain features, and complying with court orders for user information in criminal cases. The app has also increased its efforts to detect illegal content.
Despite its size and significance, Telegram is often viewed as a political nuisance. Chander noted that X enjoys a stronger political backing in the U.S. than Telegram, meaning that removing X could provoke a significant political backlash against Apple, unlike the response to Telegram’s removal. This isn’t the first time Apple has acted against Telegram; it previously removed the app for a CSAM violation in 2018, albeit for a short period.
While a single instance of illegal content can lead to an app’s removal, Apple’s approach to X’s recent controversies has been notably different. Late last year, X introduced an update allowing users to edit images using its Grok AI chatbot, which soon led to the spread of AI-generated deepfakes involving both adults and children. The fallout was swift, with the UK’s former prime minister condemning X and the European Union launching an investigation. Advocacy groups called for X’s removal from app stores, but Apple did not take that step. Legal actions followed, including a lawsuit from Ashley St. Clair, the mother of one of Musk’s children, against X for allowing Grok to create nonconsensual, sexualized images. A group of teenagers also sued xAI, the company behind Grok, for similar reasons.
Despite the mounting pressure, Apple chose to keep X in its store, opting instead to engage with the platform behind the scenes to request improvements in content moderation. Apple reached out to the teams behind X and Grok after receiving complaints and media coverage of the situation, asking them to devise a plan to enhance moderation. While Apple later determined that X had “substantially resolved its violations,” it warned Grok’s team that further changes were necessary to avoid removal from the App Store.
Musk stated that anyone using Grok to create illegal content would face consequences similar to those for uploading illegal material. xAI even took legal action against an individual for allegedly using Grok to generate and distribute CSAM. Throughout this period, Apple did not remove X or Grok, despite the AI chatbot generating inappropriate images of minors.
Chander remarked that removing X would require a top-level decision, one that would invite significant political repercussions, including potential backlash from Musk. Apple is acutely aware of the implications; after Musk acquired Twitter in 2022, he publicly accused Apple of trying to restrict the app, a dispute that was resolved after a meeting with Tim Cook.
Durov has claimed that Apple removed Telegram without prior communication. Apple has not commented on the differing moderation approaches for the two apps. The company keeps its moderation processes closely guarded, making it difficult to discern how it collaborates with developers behind the scenes. However, recent actions suggest that Apple’s rules may have some flexibility, especially when it involves high-profile figures like Musk.
