(Reuters) – Messaging app Telegram, one of the most popular social networks in Ukraine and Russia, is likely to reach 1 billion monthly active users within a year, its founder said in comments published on Tuesday.
In a rare interview, Pavel Durov told US journalist Tucker Carlson that the Dubai-based free cloud app, which allows users to send and receive messages, calls and other files, is spreading like “wildfire”.
“We will probably cross 1 billion monthly active users within a year,” Durov, who wholly owns Telegram, told Tucker, according to a video interview posted on Tucker’s account on social media platform X.
The goal of the app, which now has 900 million active users, is to remain a “neutral platform” and not “a player in geopolitics,” Durov said. The Russian-born entrepreneur said he fled Russia in 2014, citing government interference in the company he founded.
One of Telegram’s main competitors, Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:) WhatsApp, has more than 2 billion monthly active users. In March, the Financial Times reported that Telegram would likely seek a US listing once the company reaches profitability.
After Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Telegram became a useful tool for both governments and a place to post and access unfiltered information about the war.
Almost all major media outlets, government agencies and public figures in both Russia and Ukraine have content channels on Telegram.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posts daily video messages on the app, while his armed forces warn of air raids and document developments on the battlefield. The Kremlin is announcing President Vladimir Putin’s activities on Telegram as the Russian opposition mobilizes in support.
But the app has also become a tool of misinformation and manipulation, according to critics. A bill submitted to the Ukrainian parliament in March would provide for stricter regulation of Telegram and other social networks.
The Kremlin told Durov to be more careful after the messaging app was allegedly used to recruit militants who attacked a concert hall near Moscow in March.