Messaging App Telegram Is Worthwhile, Says Founder Durov

• Telegram is worthwhile after 11 years, due to advertisements and premium subscriptions, its CEO stated.
• The platform’s income exceeded $1 billion, with $500 million in money reserves.
• Telegram faces world scrutiny over misinformation and its lack of content material moderation.

Encrypted messaging service Telegram is lastly worthwhile about 11 years after it was based, CEO Pavel Durov stated Monday.

Durov wrote in a put up on his Telegram channel that the messaging platform turned worthwhile this yr due to income from advertisements and its premium subscription. It additionally paid off a “significant share” of its $2 billion debt, he stated.

Telegram has been pushing monetization efforts this yr similar to a revenue-sharing mannequin for content material creators and a business-level subscription tier. The premium month-to-month subscription prices $4.99.

Telegram’s 2024 income surpassed $1 billion, and the corporate has $500 million in money, excluding crypto, the Russian-born founder wrote. He stated the outcomes “show that social media platforms can obtain monetary sustainability whereas staying unbiased and respecting customers’ rights.

The milestone is a giant enchancment from final yr’s figures: Telegram misplaced $108 million on income of $342 million, based on The Monetary Occasions in August. Losses in early years are frequent for rising tech and media corporations and Durov even floated the thought of a public itemizing earlier this yr.

The messaging service, which stated it has about 950 million customers, has confronted a sequence of controversies, together with bans and scrutiny over the unfold of misinformation. In August, French authorities arrested Durov and issued preliminary costs for permitting what they deemed prison exercise on Telegram. Durov has not been allowed to depart France since.

“Utilizing legal guidelines from the pre-smartphone period to cost a CEO with crimes dedicated by third events on the platform he manages is a misguided method,” Durov wrote on his Telegram channel on the time.

He acknowledged that the platform’s development spike induced “rising pains” that made it simpler for criminals to abuse, however stated it is not an “anarchic paradise.”

Spain, Germany, and the UK, amongst different nations, have thought of banning the app or inserting sanctions due to what they see as disinformation on the platform and an absence of response to authorities requests to take down some posts. Telegram differs from different social media platforms, similar to Fb and YouTube, as a result of it has little to no content material moderation. It’s banned in China, Thailand, and Iran.

Telegram was banned in Russia between 2018 and 2020 after Durov denied the Kremlin entry to person knowledge. Durov left Russia in 2014 after comparable issues along with his earlier social community enterprise.

At the moment, Telegram is fashionable in Russia and performs a serious position in details about the warfare in Ukraine.