Telegram founder Pavel Durov stated that in all the 12 years of the messenger's existence, not a single byte of users' personal messages has been disclosed. He wrote about this on his Telegram channel, emphasizing that the company strictly adheres to the principle of confidentiality.
According to Durov, even within the requirements of the EU Digital Services Act, Telegram, upon receiving a court order, only discloses the IP addresses and phone numbers of suspects — but not the content of their correspondence. He added that the messenger would prefer to leave the market rather than implement backdoors that could weaken encryption.
"Unlike some of our competitors, we do not trade privacy for market share," Durov noted. His statement comes amid growing pressure from authorities in various countries, accusing Telegram of condoning criminal activity and calling for tighter control over the platform.
Earlier, Durov reported that the number of active Telegram users exceeded one billion. According to him, this makes the service the second most popular messenger in the world after WhatsApp, excluding the Chinese WeChat.
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