Telegram founder Pavel Durov took to social media to address the circumstances of the app’s brief removal from the App Store earlier this week. The exec claimed that the service was targeted by “a takedown extortionist.” In a lengthy post on X, Durov alleged that a malicious actor edited an old message in an active group chat to show “AI-modified illegal content” that wouldn’t be seen and reported by the group’s members. He claimed this laid the scene for an extortion attempt, where the actor would use a fleet of automated accounts to report their own post to Apple if the company didn’t pay to be left alone.

“Extortionists have found a way to manipulate Apple into overreacting. Apple removed Telegram from the App Store before contacting us. This creates a potential systemic risk for every mobile app that hosts user-generated content.”

Responsibility for user-generated content is not a new issue. Questions about culpability for users’ possible illegal activity has been a debate for social media networks for years. It also isn’t the first time Telegram and Durov have been the subjects of those exact questions. Between video and image editing tools in chatbots and the speed of task execution agents are capable of, the proliferation of AI has made it potentially easier for an extortionist to carry out this type of attack.