Apple sued for not removing Telegram from App Store; Know why

Apple has been strict with the App Store guidelines, and we've seen it with Epic's Fortnite case. The company is also in the news for removing the Parler app used for the recent riots at the US Capitol. Now, the iPhone maker is being sued for failing to remove an app used for similar work: Telegram. The lawsuit was filed over the weekend in the US District Court for the Northern District of California by Ambassador Marc Ginsberg and the Coalition for a Safer Web (CSW).

They claim (via Apple Insider) that Apple is allowing Telegram to remain on the App Store despite knowing that "Telegram is being used to intimidate, threaten and coerce members of the public." This means that Apple is not following its policy and guidelines regarding the app's content. This indirectly also means that the company is allowing users to continue their activities on Telegram.

According to a press release issued by CSW in June last year, Telegram was used as a "channel of communication for the Russian government and affiliated neo-Nazi and white nationalist groups, sowing disinformation and racial division in the United States and Europe." Additionally, Ginsberg separately wrote to Apple CEO Tim Cook on behalf of the CSW in July, asking him to remove the app from the App Store.

What's more, the suit alleges Telegram being used to "coordinate and incite extreme violence" just before President-Elect Joe Biden's inauguration. "Some users have called on followers to abandon plans for a second protest in Washington in favour of surprise attacks nationwide," states the filing.