Durov explained that China did not establish WeChat as the only communication app and did not force users to use it. The messenger became popular in the early 2010s due to competition, winning over many other services, including international ones like WhatsApp, which at that time had no restrictions. Only after WeChat gained a significant audience did government structures begin to integrate their services into this messenger.
Durov also compared the situation in China with other countries, such as South Korea and Japan, where the dominant messengers became KakaoTalk and LINE, respectively. In his opinion, there was also no scenario there in which competitors were banned first, and then a winner was declared.
From this, Durov draws a conclusion that has become the main message of his statement: attempts to impose a single service on the population have not succeeded in any case, and the elimination of competition negatively affects both the quality of life and the safety of communication. He emphasizes that competition is the driving force of progress, and its absence will not lead to improvements.
This statement came against the backdrop of new restrictions on the operation of Telegram in Russia. According to media reports, starting from February 10, 2026, authorities began to "systematically restrict" this messenger, while the Kremlin in its public statements refers to Max as the "national messenger" and "affordable alternative." Earlier, Durov also noted that a similar attempt in Iran proved ineffective: users continued to use Telegram, circumventing the blocks.
