Pavel Durov

“You know the interesting thing about encryption is that it cannot be secure just for some people.”

“One thing Telegram does is make mass surveillance impossible.”

“Few people outside the Telegram fan community realize that most of the new features in messaging appear on Telegram first, and are then carbon-copied by WhatsApp down to the tiniest details.”

“Terrorists will always find a way to communicate. They will always find a solution.”

“The probability that we will get into a car accident is a million times higher than the probability we will suffer as a result of terrorist act.”

“WhatsApp deliberately obfuscates their apps' binaries to make sure no one is able to study them thoroughly.”

“Telegram's popularity is spread evenly across continents. We have a substantial user base in Spain, Italy, Netherlands and Germany. Also in Brazil, Mexico and Guatemala in Latin America, India, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and Uzbekistan, across Asia.”

“Telegram is heavily encrypted and privacy-oriented, but we're no friends of terrorists - in fact, every month we block thousands of ISIS-related public channels.”

“At Telegram we enjoy the luxury of not having to care about income streams or advertising.”

“It's my responsibility to support the team behind Telegram.”

“Every time WhatsApp has to fix a critical vulnerability in their app, a new one seems to appear in its place.”

“Privacy is not for sale, and human rights should not be compromised out of fear or greed.”

“A lot of people in the western world don't realize how much taxes limit their options. You can end up paying almost half your income in taxes, which basically means you're working for the government for 180 days a year. I think I can find better ways to use the money I make for the benefit of society.”

“To give the personal details of Ukrainians to the Russian authorities would not only be against the law, but also a betrayal of those millions of people in Ukraine who trusted us.”

“The U.S. can use its control over the dollar and the global financial system to shut down any bank or bank account in the world. It can use its control over Apple and Google to remove apps from the App Store and Google Play.”

“We had a simple choice: Either betray our values or keep our values and leave Russia to try to do something new.”

“I believe the role of the government is too big. Society must be more decentralized.”

“Unless you are cool with all of your photos and messages becoming public one day, you should delete WhatsApp from your phone.”

“I don't like the idea of beating birds. I'm vegetarian.”

“Our growth relies solely on our users suggesting to their friends to download and use Telegram.”