Telegram founder Durov calls WhatsApp users 'complete fools'
The Telegram founder has previously faced accusations of refusing to combat criminals on his platform.
Pavel Durov, one of the founders of the Telegram messenger, criticized his competitor—the WhatsApp* app. Durov stated that this messenger is not secure and is only used by foolish people, pointing to numerous attack vectors against the application.
“You have to be a complete fool to believe in the security of WhatsApp* in 2026. Having analyzed how WhatsApp* implements its «encryption,» we discovered numerous attack vectors,” TASS quotes Durov as saying.
Recall that WhatsApp* began to be blocked in November 2025 due to violations of Russian legislation. Roskomnadzor (the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media) stated that the messenger is used to organize and carry out terrorist activities. The State Duma noted that the service could be completely blocked in 2026.
In Telegram, however, video and voice calls have not been working since the summer of 2025. Roskomnadzor noted that new restrictions in the messenger are not being introduced at this time.
Read about what free services are currently available for calls.
* Owned by Meta corporation—an extremist organization whose activities are prohibited in the Russian Federation.
