Telegram founder warns of new AI-powered threat that can force apps like Instagram removed from Playstore; calls it 'takedown extortion'

Telegram founder Pavel Durov has warned app developers of an emerging method of cyber abuse he calls takedown extortion, days after Apple briefly pulled Telegram from its App Store following a coordinated attack in which illegal content was planted inside one of the platform's public group chats.

Durov posted his account of the incident on X on 4 August, saying Apple removed Telegram without prior contact or warning. The app was restored within hours. Durov said he was making the attack public to alert other developers and online communities to what he described as an evolving and systemic threat.

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What is takedown extortion?

Durov described takedown extortionists as individuals or groups who demand ransom from group owners in exchange for not targeting their communities. When owners refuse to pay, attackers use automated accounts to plant illegal content inside public groups and report it directly to Apple or other platform gatekeepers, attempting to trigger the removal of those communities.

In this instance, the attacker inserted AI-modified illegal pornographic content by editing an old message inside an active group chat. Because the content was placed inside an existing message rather than posted as new, it was effectively hidden from the group's members, preventing them from seeing or reporting it. Telegram's moderation systems, built to detect and remove illegal content from public groups, did not flag it for the same reason.

Why did Apple remove Telegram from the App Store?

Apple acted on the report filed directly by the attacker and removed Telegram from the App Store before making any contact with Telegram's team, according to Durov. The app was restored after Telegram identified and removed the content.

Durov said this sequence exposed a significant gap in how platform gatekeepers respond to abuse reports involving user-generated content. "If an app used by more than a billion people can be removed from the App Store without prior warning, any app can be," he wrote.

He said this creates a potential systemic risk for every mobile app hosting user-posted content, which covers most major social platforms including Instagram, YouTube, and X.

Is illegal content a widespread problem on Telegram?

Durov said in his post that illegal pornographic content in Telegram's public groups is not a systemic problem and that the platform's moderation is effective. He said the fact that attackers had to resort to backdating content inside old messages and making it invisible to group members was itself evidence that standard methods of planting illegal content no longer work on Telegram.

He added that Telegram has extensive experience identifying tricks used by coordinated reporting gangs and protecting legitimate communities, even when doing so risks the app being temporarily removed from the App Store, and warned that other platforms may not be equally prepared.

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Can other apps face the same threat?

Durov's warning was directed at app developers and community owners across platforms. He said takedown extortion tactics are evolving and that any platform hosting user-generated content is now a potential target.

The method described, using AI to modify illegal content, concealing it inside edited historical messages to bypass moderation, and then reporting it directly to app stores, represents a technical escalation from earlier forms of coordinated abuse that relied on mass false reporting alone.

Durov did not name other platforms that may have already been targeted but said the risk is real and growing.

Check Pavel Durov's X post: