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Messaging App Telegram Pulled From Apple's App Store Due To 'Inappropriate Content' (theverge.com)

Posted by msmash on from the stranger-things dept.

An anonymous reader shares a report: Apple has removed Telegram's official app from its iOS App Store. The app disappeared yesterday, shortly after Telegram launched a rewritten Telegram X app for Android. Telegram X is currently in testing on iOS, and it was also removed from the App Store. "We were alerted by Apple that inappropriate content was made available to our users and both apps were taken off the App Store," says Telegram CEO Pavel Durov. "Once we have protections in place we expect the apps to be back on the App Store."

40 of 86 comments (clear)

  1. ICO anyone? by GeekWithAKnife · · Score: 4, Insightful


    Couldn't be due to the ICO for telegram and potentially allowing telegram tokens transferred through encrypted chat that cannot be eavesdropped on?

    Good guess? :-)

    --
    A 'singular oddity' is an event that cannot be explained and only happens when you are alone.
  2. 'Inappropriate Content' by xvan · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What can be inappropriate about a messenger app?

    1. Re: 'Inappropriate Content' by TWX · · Score: 4, Funny

      Have you seen some of the screencaps pulled from Snapchat?

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    2. Re: 'Inappropriate Content' by Hal_Porter · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Google pulled gab.ai from the Play store because gab.ai didn't have a censorship policy that Google approved of. So did Apple.

      https://www.scribd.com/documen...

      --
      echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
    3. Re: 'Inappropriate Content' by wardrich86 · · Score: 1

      Difference is that the Android version could be distributed via APK in other, easy ways whereas the Apple version is pretty much fucked.

    4. Re: 'Inappropriate Content' by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      We don't use the initials A P K around here...

    5. Re: 'Inappropriate Content' by Hal_Porter · · Score: 1

      And if you read the document I linked to they explain why that is not the same thing as having it available from the Play Store on page 13 onwards.

      It reminds me a bit of the Chinese Communist Party apologist line that 'well you can access blocked websites via VPN', before the CCP decided to have a crackdown on VPNs. Yeah, you can but not many people do. And websites that need to be accessed via VPN have a competitive disadvantage to ones that you can access without one.

      I.e. you don't need to have an absolutely hermetic seal on non approved views in order to give the approved views a competitive advantage. Even a relatively minor asymmetry can cause a feedback effect. E.g. most Internet echo chambers develop like this

      1) Side A has a slight numerical advantage of Side B
      2) Supporters of Side B are more likely to be downvoted or banned because supporters of Side A apply the rules more strictly to them
      3) Supporters of Side B give up on posting
      4) Quite quickly Side A has an echo chamber where its views are unchallenged

      Anything which can produce the slight advantage in 1) will lead to an echo chamber forming by the feedback in steps 2-4)

      Mind you as the document I linked to points out, Google don't really care about promoting social justice and banning hate speech. They really care about stopping the development of a competitive platform to theirs. "Stopping hate speech" is the left wing version of "think of the children". Just like the religious right types in the 80's wanted control and were probably total hypocrites about religion in private, most Googlers are probably not actually living up to the proclaimed principles.

      Look at all the male feminist types who've be done for sexual assault for example. It's the modern version of religious right types getting caught with a male prostitute boy and a load of crack cocaine, which used to happen regularly in the 80's and 90's, e.g. Ted Haggard.

      If you have an ideology which gives people control over others, a whole load of unscrupulous swine will claim to believe in public even if in private they clearly do not.

      --
      echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
    6. Re: 'Inappropriate Content' by spire3661 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      This is a real fucking issue. At some point we are going to have to force them both to allow ANY legal app or we have a real censorship problem. Google and Apple should NOT be gatekeepers of 'inappropriate'.

      --
      Good-bye
    7. Re: 'Inappropriate Content' by wardrich86 · · Score: 2

      I have no idea what you're getting at, but okay... all I was trying to say was that as an Android user, I don't have to fear Mama Google pulling away apps, because the developer has the option to release the program as an APK and distribute the software that way. You can also run Android totally free of Google Services if you really wanted.

    8. Re: 'Inappropriate Content' by houghi · · Score: 1

      I dsagree with that. Please ask /. to remove your comment. Previous actions have shown they are able to do so.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    9. Re: 'Inappropriate Content' by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

      What can be inappropriate about a messenger app?

      You didn't RTFA, did you. No, I'm not going to QTFA, RTFA yourself.

      --
      Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
    10. Re: 'Inappropriate Content' by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      This is a real fucking issue. At some point we are going to have to force them both to allow ANY legal app or we have a real censorship problem. Google and Apple should NOT be gatekeepers of 'inappropriate'.

      Actually, for Apple it's quite easy. If the app is 18+, go right ahead. Most apps that are online communications app are simply marked as 18+ and don't bother censoring.

      If the app is not marked 18+, then you better not allow any form of penis or other thing to be sent to anyone not over 18. For a messaging app, that's pretty much impossible, which is why they get denied for inappropriate content.

      Basically, if you want your app to be open and uncensored, it has to be 18+ (and OS parental controls can restrict apps from running).

      The big problem is a lot of apps like SnapChat etc require tweens/teens to be able to use them (marketing reasons of course), so it forces those companies to censor.

      So you don't have to censor a single thing, it just means Apple will refuse it unless you set the age restriction to 18+. Many apps have fallen afoul of this over the years and some have basically fallen afoul so badly they had to be removed before they were fixed. I think there was one where the reviewer got a screenful of porn on running the app which did not go over well.

    11. Re: 'Inappropriate Content' by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

      So no problem, censorship-wise. Only problem is number of apps they can sell in the reduced 18+ market?

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    12. Re: 'Inappropriate Content' by ourlovecanlastforeve · · Score: 1

      If they're banning Telegram for inappropriate content they should also ban iMessage and Mail and iCloud storage because you can send porn through that too.

  3. Removed from App Store by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Let's hope it's not also removed from iPhones currently using it,

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    1. Re:Removed from App Store by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 1

      Proof?

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      Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
    2. Re:Removed from App Store by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      No it is not ... it runs on my iPhone and iPad just fine.

      Never heard about Apple removing already installed apps from a users device. That would be illegal in EU I guess, no idea about USA, though.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    3. Re:Removed from App Store by ilsaloving · · Score: 1

      No, they're not like Amazon. However, if you remove your copy, you won't be able to install it again.

    4. Re:Removed from App Store by Falos · · Score: 1

      Then they'll simply remove a pipe dependency (check-in, API block, whatever) they control, rendering the un-touched MUH PROPERTY software inert.

    5. Re:Removed from App Store by Falos · · Score: 1

      Edit: Would*, if they sufficiently cared. Store removal will achieve their ends, temporary or long-term.

  4. Wish Apple would also block trackers in apps! by yuvcifjt · · Score: 2

    Far too many apps on the AppStore which utilise trackers of all sorts, most famous being Google analytics and other Google adware tools, but more so other companies that use advanced forms of fingerprinting such as playing sound / detecting sound outside the human listening wavelength as well as watching movement of fingers across the screen.

    But seeing as Android and Windows 10 are now the most dominant OS globally, most sheep obviously don't care about their privacy (or they're clueless of it).

    1. Re:Wish Apple would also block trackers in apps! by CaptainDork · · Score: 3, Funny

      You left out your anti-sheep solution.

      --
      It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
    2. Re:Wish Apple would also block trackers in apps! by tepples · · Score: 1

      I guess anti-sheep is to buy a device that supports Replicant OS and obtain apps from the F-Droid repository.

    3. Re:Wish Apple would also block trackers in apps! by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      You forgot Hot Grits and Natalie Portman.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    4. Re:Wish Apple would also block trackers in apps! by Carewolf · · Score: 1

      Far too many apps on the AppStore which utilise trackers of all sorts, most famous being Google analytics and other Google adware tools, but more so other companies that use advanced forms of fingerprinting such as playing sound / detecting sound outside the human listening wavelength as well as watching movement of fingers across the screen.

      But seeing as Android and Windows 10 are now the most dominant OS globally, most sheep obviously don't care about their privacy (or they're clueless of it).

      Windows 10 was just trying (and failing) to catch up to Mac in collect user data.. They are still far behind since they have trouble getting people to use their app-store, where macsheep are more pliable

  5. Re:This is why we need to use Diaspora! by Khyber · · Score: 1

    "These are exactly the kinds of things I look for in a distributed social networking service."

    You know what I look for? A release that begins with a 1.0, because until it reaches that stage, I don't want to fucking touch it.

    --
    Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
  6. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  7. You got to be kidding me. by blind+biker · · Score: 1

    I am not going to address how ludicrous the allegation is in the context of a messaging app.

    But I will point out that Telegram is a fairly popular open source and independent Whatsapp replacement. This is something Fuckerberg hates, and has probably asked Apple to do something about.

    --
    "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
  8. I just downloaded and installed it by SlaveToTheGrind · · Score: 1

    Either Apple reversed itself within a couple of hours, or the authors didn't bother to check whether it was still unavailable before publishing.

  9. Re:This is why we need to use Diaspora! by Rakarra · · Score: 1

    This is why we need to use the open source Diaspora platform for all of our online communication needs. According to Wikipedia, Diaspora is "a distributed social networking service".

    Is it possible to talk about naughty things with Diaspora? Because that's why Telegram was banned from the App Store -- users were able to set up adult-oriented chat channels.
    Open source, closed source, doesn't matter -- if you want on iOS devices, and everyone does, apparently, you have to concede to Apple's strong-arm tactics.

  10. Re:Lots of speculation by Rakarra · · Score: 1

    Lots of people are making sensorship comments, but with our knowing what the inappropriate content was it's hard to make any real determination about why Apple removed the app.

    Apple and Telegram have been fighting publicly for quite some time about what to do about "adult channels." Not just one user sending another user adult content, but IRC-style chat channels.

  11. Re:Yeah but just install it outside of the app sto by Rakarra · · Score: 1

    Of course you have to jailbreak it, which comes with a whole huge swarm of other problems. Good luck with that.

  12. Why is Telegram rated for ages 4 and up? by Dahan · · Score: 1

    What I want to know is why Telegram thinks they should get a 4+ age rating. I think 12+ would be be more appropriate--or even 17+, which I note is what it has on Google Play. Apple wouldn't get on Telegram's case about noods if they didn't claim they were appropriate for kids.

    1. Re:Why is Telegram rated for ages 4 and up? by Carewolf · · Score: 1

      It is a messaging app...... why would it have any age rating at all? Are you going to be turning SMS features off in phones for kids under 17?

    2. Re: Why is Telegram rated for ages 4 and up? by Brockmire · · Score: 1

      Sending unsolicited nudes by SMS to a minor is likely illegal in various places. It's also not Apple's problem or ability to filter SMS.

    3. Re: Why is Telegram rated for ages 4 and up? by Carewolf · · Score: 2

      Sending unsolicited nudes by SMS to a minor is likely illegal in various places. It's also not Apple's problem or ability to filter SMS.

      Neither is it in a messenging app. It is there job to stop themselves from providing the wrong content to the wrong users, but a messaging app is content free.

      Apple's own solution is supposedly encrypted, and Apple claims they can't decrypt it, if so, it must also be uncensored. So just as "mature" as this other competing messaging app.

  13. Re:It's not censorship by Carewolf · · Score: 1

    It's not censorship, but the walled garden sure makes the echo chamber loud.

    So you can't sext on Apple's messenger? I find that hard to believe, so this is just removing cross-platform competitors from their platform.. I guess facebook and whatsapp are up next

  14. Re:Yeah but just install it outside of the app sto by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

    Of course you have to jailbreak it, which comes with a whole huge swarm of other problems. Good luck with that.

    Of course you don't have to jailbreak it - click the fucking link, you moron. Second sentence:

    Hope is not lost, however, as there's still a way to install modded and unofficial apps on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch without any jailbreak.

    Do you know what that means? That you don't have to jailbreak it.

    --
    Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
  15. It's a tradeoff. by jouassou · · Score: 1

    Android gives you the freedom to install what you want, but you're leaking data by default, and the privacy is horrible. iPhone is a walled garden where you only do what Apple wants you to, but at least you get decent privacy by default. If you want both, you basically need to sideload a different Android ROM, and most people don't do that.

  16. Re:Yeah but just install it outside of the app sto by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

    Due to Apple's restrictions on free accounts, any IPA files sideloaded using a regular Apple ID will need to be sideloaded again every seven days. Legitimate Apple Developer ID users need only to reinstall once a year, but we'll leave it up to you to decide whether or not it's worth the $100 price of paying Apple for developer privileges, when sideloading is relatively fast and pain-free.

    Great UX, resembling that of legitimate Apple software.

    Still less painful than using Lineage.

    --
    Of course news about a fake are Fake News.