On December 23rd, 2020, Pavel Durov posted to his channel that the company would need to start generating revenue. In early 2021, he added that any advertising on the platform would not use user data for targeting, and that it would be focused on ālarge one-to-many channels.ā He pledged that ads would be ānon-intrusiveā and that most users would simply not notice any change. You may recall that, back when Facebook started changing WhatsAppās terms of service, a number of news outlets reported on, and even recommended, switching to Telegram. Pavel Durov even said that users should delete WhatsApp āunless you are cool with all of your photos and messages becoming public one day.ā But Telegram canāt be described as a more-secure version of WhatsApp. Telegram boasts 500 million users, who share information individually and in groups in relative security. But Telegram's use as a one-way broadcast channel ā which followers can join but not reply to ā means content from inauthentic accounts can easily reach large, captive and eager audiences. Also in the latest update is the ability for users to create a unique @username from the Settings page, providing others with an easy way to contact them via Search or their t.me/username link without sharing their phone number. Two days after Russia invaded Ukraine, an account on the Telegram messaging platform posing as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged his armed forces to surrender.
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