Telegram is now the ‘6th largest country’ on Earth

WhatsApp rival Telegram now has 200-million monthly active users, the company revealed in a Thursday update.

“Within the last 30 days, Telegram was used by 200 000 000 people,” writes Pavel Duvov, the firm’s Russia-born founder and CEO.

“This is an insane number by any standards. If Telegram were a country, it would have been the sixth largest country in the world.”

In light of the recent Cambridge Analytica/Facebook saga, Duvov also took a moment to poke the big blue Menlo Park bear.

“Unlike other popular apps, Telegram doesn’t have shareholders or advertisers to report to. We don’t do deals with marketers, data miners or government agencies,” it notes.

But it’s not just Facebook he’s referencing.

Duvov’s encrypted messaging service has lost an appeal to prevent the company from handing over encryption keys to the Russian Federal Security Service, the FSB.

However, he doesn’t seem interested in backing down.

“Threats to block Telegram unless it gives up private data of its users won’t bear fruit,” he tweeted.

“Telegram will stand for freedom and privacy.”

Threats to block Telegram unless it gives up private data of its users won’t bear fruit. Telegram will stand for freedom and privacy.

— Pavel Durov (@durov) March 20, 2018

In addition to its messaging efforts, the company is also planning a potential ICO — initial coin offering — for its blockchain network dubbed TON.

Feature image: Telegram