‘Russia’s Facebook’ messaging platform now also has a new channel, created by the US journalist
Russian-born IT entrepreneur Pavel Durov has teased a “very rare” video conversation with Tucker Carlson, recorded around the same time as the American journalist’s visit to Russia and his famous sit-down there with President Vladimir Putin.
St Petersburg-born Durov, along with his mathematician brother Nikolay, founded VK, Russia’s answer to Facebook, before developing Telegram in 2013. The messaging platform has since grown to over 800 million active monthly users.
“As a leader of a politically neutral platform, it is my responsibility to speak to journalists representing different political views,” Durov said in a post on his official channel. “This way I can remain fair to all audiences and tell the story of Telegram to everyone.”
According to Durov, on the same day in February he had also given a three-hour interview to “a journalist of liberal views” as well as to Carlson, “who is famously conservative.”
“The interview with Tucker will be released very soon. It will be in video format, which is very rare for me – so be sure to watch it,” Durov added.
He also revealed that the American journalist has set up an official Telegram channel for his Tucker Carlson Network, urging the public to “keep an eye on the announcements there.” The channel has already attracted over 55,000 subscribers.
Carlson was the most popular cable TV host in the US until last April, when Fox News inexplicably terminated his contract, taking a massive hit in ratings and market value. He came back several months later on X (formerly Twitter), as the platform’s new owner Elon Musk promised to protect freedom of speech.
In February, Carlson visited Moscow and recorded a lengthy interview with Putin, the first the Russian president gave to a Western journalist since the Ukraine conflict escalated in 2022.
Telegram has long been the most popular messaging application in Russia and Ukraine. It has also gained popularity in the rest of the world in recent years, after Meta changed the privacy settings of WhatsApp.
Durov himself left Russia in 2013 and has since obtained the citizenships of France and the United Arab Emirates. Telegram is registered as a limited-liability company in Dubai, but the location of its physical headquarters has not been made public.
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