WASHINGTON, April 17 Telegram founder Pavel Durov said in an interview that allegations about the messenger being controlled by the Russian authorities are far from the truth and may be machinations competitors trying to contain its development, like a “forest fire”.
In an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson, the entrepreneur recounted the story of the creation of Telegram, which he started after he sold the social network VKontakte, refusing, according to him, to disclose, at the request of the Russian authorities, the personal data of the organizers of opposition protests in Ukraine.
“This could be said by people with very limited knowledge of where Telegram came from. And they could be encouraged by our competitors, who see this as a good way to discredit us, because Telegram is spreading like wildfire,” – said Durov.
He repeated that he does not spend a single dollar on marketing, and the growth of Telegram’s audience to 900 million users is, in his words, “purely organic.”
“Our competitors spend tens of billions of dollars on marketing, and they are known for using PR firms for campaigns like this,” Durov said.
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