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- The CEO of messaging app Telegram is claiming that Apple is blocking updates to the app.
- Pavel Durov, who founded Telegram in 2013, posted early Thursday that Telegram has been unable to update its app since April, around the time that Telegram was blocked in Russia.
- As a result, certain Telegram features have stopped working and the company has been unable to make the app GDPR compliant.
The CEO of messaging app Telegram says the company has been unable to update its app since April - and he's blaming Apple for the holdup.
Pavel Durov, who founded Telegram in 2013, posted on Twitter early Thursday that Apple has stopped approving Telegram's iOS updates. As a result, some Telegram features, like stickers, have stopped working, and the company has been unable to make the app GDRP compliant by the deadline, Durov wrote. (You can read more about what GDRP is and why you've likely heard a lot about it recently right here.)
Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Durov's claims.
"Apple has been preventing Telegram from updating its iOS apps globally ever since the Russian authorities ordered Apple to remove Telegram from the App Store," Durov wrote.
In April, Telegram was banned in Russia after the company refused to hand over encryption keys to the Russian government. Despite widespread protests from Russian users - which makes up about 7% of Telegram's user base, according to Durov - Russia has not reinstated access to the app.
But Telegram has 200 million global users, and is ranked as the world's ninth most popular mobile messaging service. Telegram's inability to update its app is now affecting users worldwide, Durov wrote.
You can read Durov's post below:
Apple stopped approving Telegram for iOS updates globally 1,5 months ago after Russia ordered a block on Telegram. More here - https://t.co/yarcIrV2Bh
- Pavel Durov (@durov) May 31, 2018