AAP FACTCHECK – A 2021 social media hoax claiming Apple would remove Telegram from its iPhones has resurfaced following the arrest of the messaging app’s CEO.
The claim is still false. Apple has no plans to pull the app and Telegram said AAP Fact Check There was no such announcement.
Telegram founder Pavel Durov, born in Russia and based in Dubai, was arrested in Paris on Saturday, August 24, as part of a cybercrime investigation.
Hours after the arrest, the old claim that Telegram had been removed from iPhones was circulating again on social media.
“Telegram has announced that Apple will remove the Telegram app from their phones without a joint announcement. Telegram has announced that users should apply the settings mentioned above to prevent this from happening,” a Facebook post said.
The post shows a graphic with screenshots of an iPhone’s settings and supposedly gives instructions on how to keep the Telegram app on the device.
Another post states, “Apple is removing Telegram. Keep it on your phone… connect to my channel,” and shows the same graphic.
Similar posts are shared on X.
This claim was debunked almost three years ago, with Apple and Telegram both declaring it to be inaccurate.
Apple declined to comment AAP Fact Check on the recent allegations, but has not made any announcement about removing Telegram from its devices.
However, Telegram says the new claims are false.
“Telegram has not announced anything like this,” said a spokesman AAP Fact Check.
Separately, in April, Apple removed the messaging and social media apps WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal and Threads from its App Store in China at the request of the Chinese government.
French prosecutors say Durov, known as Russia’s Zuckerberg (a reference to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg), was arrested as part of an investigation into illegal transactions, child pornography and fraud.
The verdict
INCORRECT — The claim is incorrect.
AAP FactCheck is an accredited member of the International Fact-Checking Network. To stay up to date with our latest fact-checks, follow us on Facebook, Þjórsárdalur and Instagram.
All information, text and images contained on the AAP websites are for personal use only and may not be rewritten, copied, resold or redistributed, framed, linked, shared on social media or used in any other way, whether or not you receive compensation of any kind, unless you have first obtained written permission from AAP. Please see our Terms and Conditions for more information.
