“Telegram, one of the world’s biggest social media networks, ‘will probably hit one billion active monthly users within the year,’ according to the app’s billionaire founder Pavel Durov. ‘Telegram is spreading like forest fire,’ said Mr Durov to US commentator Tucker Carlson on Tuesday.
So what is Telegram and why is it suddenly so popular?
At its core, Telegram looks quite familiar. It is an encrypted messaging service where users can privately message, as well post to a feed, similar to other platforms.
Mr Duvrov said he came up with the idea of an encrypted messaging app as a way to communicate while in Russia. His younger brother, Nikolai, designed the encryption.
Telegram, which now has 900 million users, is particularly popular in Russia and former Soviet Union countries. It is ranked as one of the major social media platforms around the world, after Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, and WeChat.
He dismissed a question about claims that Telegram was controlled by Russia as a false rumor spread by his competitors worried about Telegram’s growth.”
