Telegram messaging app is about to cross one billion lively month-to-month customers inside a 12 months, its founder Pavel Durov has mentioned.
“We’ll most likely cross one billion month-to-month lively customers inside a 12 months now,” Telegram’s CEO instructed U.S. journalist Tucker Carlson in a video interview posted on Carlson’s account on the X social media platform.
The well-known social media platform, based mostly in Dubai, was established by the Russian-born billionaire. He left Russia in 2014 after declining to close opposition groups on his VK social media platform, which he subsequently bought.
Ep. 94 The social media app Telegram has over 900 million customers world wide. Its founder Pavel Durov sat down with us at his places of work in Dubai for his first on-camera interview in virtually a decade. pic.twitter.com/NEb3KzWOg8
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) April 16, 2024
Telegram was designed to compete with WhatsApp’s dominance. In contrast to WhatsApp, it permits customers to entry their accounts from a number of gadgets. It positions itself because the anti-Fb, specializing in stronger encryption and fewer restrictive rules. Its builders assert that its multi-data heart infrastructure and strong encryption protocols make it safer than its rival owned by Meta.
Durov, who’s estimated to have a fortune of $15.5 billion, mentioned, “Telegram is spreading like a forest hearth.” Telegram, notably fashionable within the republics of the previous Soviet Union, ranks among the many high social media platforms, following Fb, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, and WeChat.
The previous VK proprietor acknowledged that Telegram is the opposite of the Russian government and that opponents had made claims to “discredit” the corporate. He added that two and a half million customers have been signing up for the platform day by day.
“We’re form of a risk so I’m not stunned there’s this notion as a result of our opponents spend tens of billions on advertising and marketing and so they’re recognized for utilizing PR corporations to additionally interact in campaigns like that,” Durov alleged.
The battle for data
Durov talked about that he acquired extreme consideration from U.S. safety businesses. He famous that one such company tried to recruit considered one of his engineers to create a backdoor into the platform.
Relating to freedom of speech, he acknowledged that essentially the most vital challenges got here not from governments, however from main opponents like Apple and Google. “These two platforms, they may principally censor every little thing you possibly can learn, entry in your smartphone,” Durov defined, including that they’d warned Telegram about elimination from their shops until it complied with their tips.
He selected the United Arab Emirates as his base as a result of it’s a “impartial nation” that goals to take care of pleasant relations with all and isn’t aligned with any superpowers, making it an excellent location for a “impartial platform.”
Durov additionally talked about that Telegram is utilized by each opposition campaigners and governments however stays neutral. “The competitors of various concepts may end up in progress and a greater world for everybody,” he mentioned.
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