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You get the goss with a verdict, a score out of 10, and the sources to check us.

Do we like Telegram?

Messaging app with about 1 billion monthly users, run from Dubai by founder Pavel Durov

Our score: 3 out of 10. We wouldn't back them yet. The app is popular and useful, but a French criminal case, weak moderation and one-man control all weigh against it.

Brothers Pavel and Nikolai Durov launched Telegram in 2013. Pavel had earlier founded Russia's VKontakte. He says he was pushed out as CEO in 2014 as state-backed entities tried to take control of it. Telegram later moved to Dubai.

It's now huge and profitable. Durov said it passed $1bn revenue in 2024 and 1bn users in 2025. Durov says he owns 100% of it, and it was funded by bonds rather than selling shares. One IPO research brief says there is no board and no audited accounts.

The big drama came in August 2024, when Durov was arrested at a Paris airport and indicted on a dozen charges. French prosecutors accuse him of complicity in crimes committed on the platform. They link this to weak moderation and poor cooperation. His lawyers say there is no evidence.

Things have changed since then. Security firm White Blue Ocean says Telegram began sharing IP addresses and phone numbers of suspects on request. Follow the Money reported German police sent it over 400 terrorism-content removal orders. The French probe is still open, and Durov was questioned a fourth time in July 2026.

Our score is 3. Telegram is useful, and it is improving on moderation under pressure. But a long record of being a haven for crime, an unresolved criminal case against its boss and a company with no checks on that boss make it a hard one to back.

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