After the precedent created when Apple and Google removed the Parler social service from the app stores, requests are now starting to appear for the elimination of other social or messaging services. For example, Marc Ginsburg, a former US ambassador and former representative of the Secretary of State, has sued Apple for removing the Telegram service from the App Store, which has grown in popularity in recent weeks.
Telegram, next on the list of social networks removed from the App Store?
Telegram is a secure messaging service with origins in Russia. It offers encrypted messaging at both ends, so messages cannot be intercepted along the way, and only the devices on the destination can “decode” them. This has led to an increase in the popularity of the service, especially in circles of users who want to be able to communicate about forbidden things on other platforms, being protected by the security of the service.
Marc Ginsburg is asking Apple to remove Telegram from the App Store and pay him $ 75,000 in damages because Telegram hosts multiple accounts and groups of Nazi-style organizations. He, as an iPhone XR user and as a member of the Jewish community, says that the presence of the Telegram service on the App Store creates emotional disorders. He also says that Telegram, through its presence in the store, violates Apple’s regulations regarding content moderation, which is why Parler was also removed from the App Store.
Ginsburg is also part of the coalition for a Safer Web, which aims to put pressure on social media services to eliminate communities that encourage racism, online or offline violence, anti-Semitism and any such abuse.
However, this is not the first time Telegram has been asked to be removed. In 2018, Telegram was temporarily delisted by Apple for the presence of child pornography groups. At that time, the situation was resolved quickly, and Telegram promised to better moderate the content in the future.
Following the protests at the Washington Capitol and the removal of Parler, many moved to the Telegram, and news of WhatsApp data transmission to Facebook once again sent a new wave of users to the service. As a result, in just a few weeks, Telegram has gained over 25 million new users.
Communities among the Boogaloo Bois and Proud Boys, associated with the far-right movement in the United States, which were already present on the Telegram, are supposed to have grown significantly recently. Telegram says it has blocked more than 182 communities with links to Capitol events that encouraged violent acts.
