If the words of the Telegram founder and chief Pavel Durov can be taken at face value, then in the last 70 odd hours, Telegram has generated 25 million users globally. The founder, who was born in Russia, has made a claim in the wake of WhatsApp announcing an alteration in its privacy policies.
Pavel Durov, who is just 36 years old, revealed via his Telegram channel that his app has approximately 500 million monthly active account holders in January. He sounded pretty upbeat when he revealed the fact that 25 million of those have joined the service in the last three days.
The upwards surge in the people opting for Telegram has happened in the wake of WhatsApp’s announcement (which hosts at least 2 billion users globally) of some debatable changes to its privacy policies. Cutting the long race short, basically, the privacy altercations would enable WhatsApp to share your data with the tech giant Facebook. Facebook is being looked down skeptically once again in the aftermath of US elections. Last time, it was highly accused of compromising user’s data with a now shut down company Cambridge Analytica (which was accused of illegally interfering with elections).
Durov made a dig at his company’s biggest competitor WhatsApp and revealed that there is hardly any user in this world that wants to compromise his or her privacy in return for some free messaging service.
Recently, WhatsApp has drawn massive criticisms from its users who were taken aback by the company’s notice that the users living outside of Europe who do not agree to the new alterations in the privacy policies will be removed from any access to the messaging service.
There is a chance you might or might not have used Telegram. It is basically a social media platform that enables users to interact and share news virtually. The app is popular in countries such as Russia and Iran, where it is generally used for private conversation (like WhatsApp in other countries).
Pavel Durov claimed on Tuesday that his company Telegram has become a sort of refugee camp for those who want to have a secure mode of communication. He also made another dig at WhatsApp and said that Telegram takes its roles and responsibilities very seriously, clearly insinuating that WhatsApp does not.
The Telegram was created in 2013 by Pavel Durov alongside his brother Nikolai Durov, who has also been credited with the creation of Russia’s premium social media platform “Vkontakte.”
According to a Netflix documentary movie, “The Great Hack,” Cambridge Analytica interfered with the 2016 Presidential Elections and ensured the victory of Donald Trump by brainwashing some selected target groups (the people who were unsure whether to vote for Hillary or Trump). “The Great Hack” claimed that Cambridge Analytica utilized the information taken by Facebook and then made an unfair strategy in favor of Donald Trump.
If you haven’t watched “The Great Hack” yet, you must do it today. It is an eye-opener.
