Telegram celebrates its 13th anniversary this Friday in a moment marked by historic growth figures and an escalation of legal and political tension surrounding its founder, Pável Dúrov.
The platform was launched on August 14, 2013, with its first version for iOS, and since then it has grown to become one of the most widely used messaging applications in the world.
On the occasion of the anniversary, Dúrov published a message on his official Telegram channel in which he stated: "An entire generation grew up with it."
The founder also highlighted that for more than half of the platform's life —the last 7.5 years— Telegram has ranked among the ten most downloaded mobile applications in the world.
In March 2025, the platform surpassed the milestone of 1 billion monthly active users, according to Dúrov himself.
The growth trajectory is striking: from 35 million users in 2014, it grew to 100 million in 2016, then to 400 million in 2020, and to 700 million in 2022, ultimately reaching the billion mark last year.
To celebrate the anniversary, Dúrov announced a giveaway of limited-edition gifts in the form of non-fungible digital assets, including items with names like "Durov's Sunglasses," "Resistance Dog," and "Pink Flamingo."
The 13th birthday arrives, however, in a context of strong pressure on the founder from various fronts.
In August 2024, Dúrov was arrested in France upon disembarking from a plane near Paris, and he is under judicial investigation for alleged links to organized crime and accusations of failing to cooperate with authorities. He was granted bail of five million euros and prohibited from leaving French territory.
In late July 2026, a new offensive from Moscow added to that situation. The Russian security service opened a case against Durov for alleged "complicity in terrorism" and issued an international search warrant.
The next day, the Russian state agency Rosfinmonitoring included him on the official list of "terrorists and extremists," which results in the freezing of his assets in the country.
Dúrov publicly responded to that designation with a stance of outright rejection. According to his own statement, Russia has labeled him a terrorist for refusing to comply with demands for mass surveillance and censorship on the platform.
Telegram was created by Pavel Durov and his brother Nikolai, who had previously founded VKontakte, the largest social network in Russia.
After losing control of that platform under pressure from the Russian government, both left the country and developed Telegram with a central focus on privacy and security. The company's headquarters are located outside of Russia, and Dúrov usually resides in Dubai.
"More than half of that time —7.5 years— we have spent among the ten most downloaded mobile applications in the world," Dúrov wrote in his anniversary message, summarizing in a single figure the scope of what began 13 years ago as a gamble for free and private communication.
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