Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov has strongly criticized WhatsApp’s privacy system, calling its encryption a “giant fraud.” In a recent post on X, Durov claimed that WhatsApp misleads users by saying their messages are fully private.
He alleged that WhatsApp employees can access almost all private messages and chats. Durov also pointed to legal cases against Meta (WhatsApp’s parent company) in the United States, suggesting the company cooperates with governments and has weaker privacy protection than it claims.
In contrast, Durov praised Telegram, saying it has never shared private user data with any third parties or governments. He positioned Telegram as a much more secure and privacy-friendly platform.
WhatsApp has rejected these claims. The company insists that its end-to-end encryption ensures only the sender and receiver can read the messages. No one else, including WhatsApp staff or Meta, can access them.
This public war of words between the two major messaging apps has once again brought the issue of online privacy into the spotlight. Many users are now debating which platform actually offers better protection for their personal conversations.
