Explainer | What is Telegram and why did the messaging app prove so popular during the Hong Kong protests?
- Telegram’s messaging service is popular because it offers a ‘Secret Chat’ function, allowing messages to be encrypted
What is Telegram?
Telegram is a cloud-based messaging app developed by Russian entrepreneurs and brothers Nikolai Durov and Pavel Durov. Although its founders are Russian, the company is registered in both the US and the UK.
The messaging app reached 200 million monthly active users in March 2018, offering secret chats that are encrypted as well as other popular features such as stickers, bots, and the ability to store messages in the cloud so that they can be accessed on any user’s device.
What’s so special about Telegram? Are Telegram messages secure?
Telegram’s messaging service is popular because it offers a “Secret Chat” function encrypted with Telegram’s proprietary MTProto Protocol.
Unlike regular messages, secret chats are not cloud-based and can only be accessed on the device used. Encryption keys are also exchanged when a secret chat is initiated, therefore securing the messages sent. Messages in these secret chats can also be deleted at any time, and can be set to “self-destruct” after a set time.