![]() ![]() Similarly, on April 17th, the Moscow Times quoted Durov as saying that he quit the company after being pressured to reveal account details about Ukrainians protesting the then-president Viktor Yanukovych.Įither way, Durov says that he withdrew his resignation but that he was ousted from his company anyway. TechCrunch implies that it was a matter of principle, but it’s hard to be clear on the wheres, whos and whys. The next bit isn’t clear, but Durov reportedly claimed that his resignation, dated March 21st, was an April Fools’ prank. By the start of April, Pavel Durov had given his notice, with TechCrunch saying at the time that the CEO had resisted pressure to suppress pages criticizing the Russian government. In February 2014, the Ukrainian people ousted pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych, prompting Russia to invade and annex the Crimean peninsula. Telegram was originally launched as a side project by the Durov brothers, with Nikolai handling the coding and Pavel as CEO, while both were at VK. There’s a certain degree of myth-making around what exactly went on, so take everything that follows lightly. In 2016, Forbes’ Michael Solomon described Pavel Durov (pictured, below) as the “Mark Zuckerberg of Russia.” Does VK own Telegram, like Facebook owns WhatsApp? In January, SimpleWeb reported that VK was Russia’s fourth most-visited website, after Yandex, YouTube and Google’s Russian-language homepage. VK is Russia’s equivalent of Facebook, a social network used for public and private messaging, audio and video sharing as well as online gaming. Telegram was co-founded by Pavel and Nikolai Durov, the brothers who had previously created VKontakte. ![]() ![]() Right now, as Wired reports, the app is a key way for Ukrainians to receive updates from the government during the invasion. This has proven to be both a blessing and a curse for Telegram and its users, since these channels can be used for both good and ill. But it also offers open channels that enable a single user, or a group of users, to communicate with large numbers in a method similar to a Twitter account. What is Telegram?Īt its heart, Telegram is little more than a messaging app like WhatsApp or Signal. But, if all of this is new to you, let us explain, dear friends, what on Earth a Telegram is meant to be, and why you should, or should not, need to care. While Telegram has been embroiled in controversy for much of its life, it has become a vital source of communication during the invasion of Ukraine. Its user base isn’t as vast as WhatsApp’s, and its broadcast platform is a fraction the size of Twitter, but it’s nonetheless showing its use. Since its launch in 2013, Telegram has grown from a simple messaging app to a broadcast network. ![]()
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