Telegram founder slams Facebook to 'respect users'

Telegram founder Pavel Durov on January 9 slammed Facebook, which owns WhatsApp, asking the company to "respect" its users. Messaging platforms Telegram and Signal have seen a surge in popularity after WhatsApp's new privacy policy sparked concerns related to data-sharing with Facebook.

Durov said Telegram has around 500 million users, claiming it has turned into "a major problem" for WhatsApp.

He also accused WhatsApp of covert marketing, stating that "Wikipedia editors have recently exposed multiple paid bots adding biased information into the WhatsApp Wikipedia article".

Durov also sought to address some "myths" related to Telegram, after witnessing inaccurate information about the platform on social media. He clarified that the platform's code is open source and that chats are encrypted. "In reality, all Telegram client apps have been open-source since 2013. Our encryption and API are fully documented and have been reviewed by security experts thousands of times," the Telegram founder said.