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The members of the National Assembly were wise to reject a law that would have made France the first country in the world to strip its citizens of their right to privacy. Even countries that many Europeans view as lacking in freedoms have never banned encryption. Why?
Because it’s technically impossible to guarantee that only the police can access a backdoor. Once introduced, a backdoor can be exploited by other parties — from foreign agents to hackers. As a result, the private messages of all law abiding citizens can get compromised.
Aimed at preventing drug trafficking, the law wouldn’t have helped fight crime anyway. Even if mainstream encrypted apps had been weakened by a backdoor, criminals could still communicate securely through dozens of smaller apps — and become even harder to trace due to VPNs.
This is why, as I’ve said before, Telegram would rather exit a market than undermine encryption with backdoors and violate basic human rights. Unlike some of our competitors, we don’t trade privacy for market share.
In it’s 12-year history, Telegram has never disclosed a single byte of private messages. In accordance with the EU Digital Services Act, if provided with a valid court order, Telegram would only disclose the IP addresses and phone numbers of criminal suspects — not messages.
Last month, freedom prevailed. But it was a reminder: we must keep explaining to lawmakers that encryption isn’t built to protect criminals — it protects the privacy and safety of ordinary people. Losing that protection would be tragic.
The battle is far from over. This month, the European Commission proposed a similar initiative to add backdoors to messaging apps. No country is immune to the slow erosion of freedoms. Every day, those freedoms come under attack — and every day, we must defend them.
We issued bonds four years ago — at a time when Telegram had zero revenue and half the user base we have today.
🏦 What makes the difference is our bondholders: some of the world’s most reputable global funds. Their continued support helps Telegram stay independent and grow stronger in any economic environment
All nine Valentine’s gifts sold out within a few hours, totaling over $5M.
We’ll have to release more — can’t have our American users waking up to empty shelves
In just one hour, all the rings are gone
35,000 items, ~$20 each. That’s $700,000 in sales — while most people were asleep
At this rate, we’ll run out of Valentine’s gifts in no time.
Are they too cheap?
15,000 Loot Bags costing about $50 each sold in 24 minutes, $750,000 total. Once minted, they turn into insanely beautiful art pieces
It took 6 minutes for this entire collection to sell out. People paid over $200 for each of the 2000 hearts. $400,000 in 6 minutes
Over the past 5 weeks, thousands of users asked us to add new gifts
So today, we’re launching 9 limited-edition gifts:
And 4 of them
Happy Valentine’s Day!
And don’t miss the new AI-powered sticker search! Now, you can intuitively find the perfect fit from millions of user-created stickers in 29 languages. We’ll continue expanding the index in future updates — once we clean out the not-so-kosher (and not-so-halal) ones
Telegram’s third major update this year is out. With it, we’re taking another step towards supporting our own video platform: meet video covers, saved progress, and timestamp sharing
Following the success of the Chinese startup DeepSeek, many are surprised at how quickly China has caught up with the US in AI. However, China’s progress in algorithmic efficiency hasn't come out of nothing. Chinese students have long outperformed others in math and programming at international olympiads
When it comes to producing outstanding performers in math and science, China's secondary education system is superior to that of the West. It fosters fierce competition among students, a principle borrowed from the highly efficient Soviet model
In contrast, most Western schools discourage competition, prohibiting public announcements of students' grades and rankings. The rationale is understandable — to protect students from pressure or ridicule. However, such measures also predictably demotivate the best students. Victory and defeat are two sides of the same coin. Eliminate the losers — and you eliminate the winners ☯️
For many students, motivation to excel in high school comes from treating it as a competitive game, striving to rank first against strong opponents. Removing transparency in student performance can make school feel meaningless for ambitious teenagers. It’s not surprising that many gifted kids now find competitive gaming more exciting than academics — at least in video games, they can see how each player ranks
Telling all students they are champions, regardless of performance, may seem kind — until you consider how quickly reality will shatter this illusion after graduation. Reality, unlike well-meaning school policies, does have public grades and rankings — whether in sports, business, science, or technology. AI benchmarks that demonstrate DeepSeek's superiority are one of such public rankings. And more are coming. Unless the US secondary education system undergoes radical reform, China’s growing dominance in technology seems inevitable
Competition drives progress!
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Telegram Contests💎 Blockchain Contest, Round 1
Telegram and TON Core announce a new coding contest!
Prize Fund: $100,000 to $200,000
Deadline: 23:59, February 4th (Dubai time)
Tasks: Blockchain Validation (C++ code optimization) and/or Trustless Bridge (participants can…
