On May 15, 2025, Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, directly targeted WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta, calling it a “cheap imitator” and accusing WhatsApp of launching a defamation campaign against Telegram.
Durov announced a new $50,000 competition on the same day, aiming to showcase the functional advantages of Telegram. The competition will last until May 26th. He said that the competition would showcase Telegram’s long-standing innovation and leading position in messaging functionality. Durov said that the features used by WhatsApp users were all launched by Telegram many years ago, but they were delayed versions. He believes that this competition will help users understand and shift public attention to Telegram’s role as a leader in the messaging field.
Durov listed over 30 features that Telegram launched before WhatsApp, including channels, editable messages, scheduled destruction of chat records, advanced stickers, and interactive voting, and emphasized that these are only some of the features. Telegram has many innovative features that WhatsApp does not have. He urged the contestants to produce short videos to showcase Telegram’s technological leadership and privacy-first philosophy.
Durov also mentioned that Telegram has over one billion active users, while WhatsApp has more than two billion users. Nevertheless, he believes that Telegram’s growth is attributed to its transparency and independence. Telegram does not place advertisements and does not rely on external investors. However, Telegram does not support end-to-end encryption by default, while WhatsApp has this feature in all chats.
A spokesperson for WhatsApp responded to this, saying that WhatsApp has integrated privacy into its DNA since its inception, much earlier than the emergence of Telegram. The spokesperson also criticized Telegram for not protecting the security of group conversations but instead storing them all on its own servers.
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