Telegram CEO: No Issue with ISIS, Terrorist Using App
Lawrence Villamar | Sep 22, 2015 05:01 AM EDT
As cyberterrorism rises, representatives from various countries are working together to condemn the said act. (Photo : Info Sec Institute)
Pavel Durov, the CEO of Telegram, said he has no problem with the terrorist group ISIS using the popular messaging app.
Telegram is one of the messaging apps, along with Kick and Wickr, that use encryption technology. It is reportedly used by terrorist groups like the ISIS to communicate and to organize its activities. With its encryption technology, the government and its agents are helpless when it comes to tracking and to decrypting communication among members of the terrorists groups.
In the TechCrunch Disrupt conference, Durov said, “Privacy is ultimately more important than our fear of bad things happening, like terrorism.
Durov continued that, "If you look at ISIS, yes, there’s a war going on in the Middle East. Ultimately, ISIS will find a way to communicate with its cells, and if any means doesn’t feel secure to them, they’ll [find something else]. We shouldn’t feel guilty about it. We’re still doing the right thing, protecting our users’ privacy.”
Rivalry With WhatsApp
In the same conference, Durov took a shot at the Facebook-owned WhatsApp saying bluntly that its rival app, with 900 million active users, in his word, "suck."
Durov reasoned that, "f you have WhatsApp and your phone goes down, you don’t have access to your messages. You can’t send documents and it’s not private."
Durov said that he is not a fan of rival WhatsApp, which sold to Facebook for $19 billion. Even after three years, his position seems unchanged.
Telegram's Payment Service
Telegram sells itself on privacy with 62 million active users availing of its encrypted messaging app. It plans to unveiling a payment service following the lead of WhatsApp owner Facebook in its Messenger platform. But unlike Facebook, Telegram will use third party partners to make payment on the app possible.
