WhatsApp Is Blocking Links To Rival App Telegram On Android
- 8 years ago
Facebook-owned messaging giant WhatsApp appears to have started deliberately blocking links to rival messaging app Telegram so users can't share clickable Telegram-associated URLs in their chats.
In an email exchange with TechCrunch, Telegram founder Pavel Durov described WhatsApp blocking links to its service as "short-sighted".
The messaging app, which launched in mid 2013, has seen some impressive engagement growth this year - with the volume of messages sent daily via Telegram rising from around 1 billion this February to 12 billion by September.
Whatever the truth, it's a not-so-gentle reminder that when it comes to dominant commercial platforms the content we the users are allowed to see and access is perennially at the whim of the platform owner and their commercial interests.
In an email exchange with TechCrunch, Telegram founder Pavel Durov described WhatsApp blocking links to its service as "short-sighted".
The messaging app, which launched in mid 2013, has seen some impressive engagement growth this year - with the volume of messages sent daily via Telegram rising from around 1 billion this February to 12 billion by September.
Whatever the truth, it's a not-so-gentle reminder that when it comes to dominant commercial platforms the content we the users are allowed to see and access is perennially at the whim of the platform owner and their commercial interests.