Following attempts to malign Signal as insecure by Telegram's CEO and Elon Musk, a look at why Signal is widely regarded by experts as more secure than Telegram
The core distinction is product design rather than branding. Later coverage examined Telegram’s security claims in light of its lack of default end-to-end encryption and group-chat E2E option, reinforcing why experts draw a sharper line between the services.
First-order effects
Signal and Telegram face more scrutiny of their technical security claims, rather than simply their public assertions about privacy.
Users choosing between the apps have a clearer reason to distinguish default protections from optional or unavailable encrypted-chat features.
Second-order effects
Telegram’s positioning as a secure messenger becomes harder to sustain without explaining the limits of its encryption model; Signal gains a more legible technical benchmark for comparison.
High-profile criticism can turn messaging-security debates into reputation contests, increasing the value of independent cryptographic analysis over founder-led claims.
Third-order effects
If this pattern persists, consumer messaging will compete more explicitly on whether privacy protections are enabled by default and apply to group communication, not merely on whether encryption exists somewhere in a product.
The episode points toward security architecture becoming a durable trust differentiator, though public attention may still be shaped by influential platform owners and personalities.
The trend: Private-messaging competition is shifting from broad privacy branding toward scrutiny of default encryption design and independently assessable security properties.
This concern ab signal - a manufactroversy that it's “compromised” based on zero evidence - has been roiling on Twitter for weeks now. This article sums it up. It's egregiously malicious & dangerous for some idiot w/a vendetta and a megaphone to undermine secure messaging this …
For the last 3 years I've also been on the board of a payments project Signal incubated. And I'm a “bad person” too - not prog, but Deep State (🙄) More evidence! Also Signal's current CEO prev worked at Google. Connect the dots, sheeple! …
I got an unexpected front row seat to the beginnings of ongoing conspiracy theorist rumblings about Signal last month because one thing paranoid cranks on Twitter love to do is play the “Transitive Property of Bad People” game. Attacking Signal took off with a vengeance bc *NPR*…
To catch everyone up: 1) an NPR “whistleblower” wrote an article in The Free Press alleging anti-conservative bias at NPR three weeks ago 2) the brand new CEO of NPR, Katherine Maher, had a bunch of tweets that revealed her to be progressive; opportunity! …
“Telegram isn't a secure messenger, full stop.” - @matthew_d_green on the recent Telegram push to convince people it's more secure than Signal, which it isn't.
every single communications platform you can use because it's easier than talking to someone face to face or via courier can be & prolly is compromised. Face to face can be compromised if done in proximity to cameras or while having an electronic device id'd to you on your person
I seem to be getting a lot of messages about this. This is someone who probably has more insight that then streamer or Reddit post that told you signal wasn't secure
@jack Things like this are worrying. Freedom of speech is a sacred principle, not a cudgel to be selectively used against enemies. Freedom of speech is for reds. It's for blues. It's for Canadians. It's for Palestinians. It's for the rich and the poor. For the old and the young. …
I don't know any journalists, or anyone who needs secure comms to talk to journalists, that would prefer to communicate w Telegram over Signal . https://www.defenseone.com/...
It's not weird for a CEO to say “my product is better than your product.” But when the claim is about security and critically, *you've made a deliberate decision not to add security for most users* then it exists the domain of competition, and starts to feel like malice.
Telegram is a badly encrypted messaging platform used by right-wingers and Russians. Signal is used by American cryptographers because it's well encrypted. Republicans, Russians, Telegram fans, and Mask cast shade on Signal pretending it has problems.
I don't really care which messenger you use. I just want you to understand the stakes. If you use Telegram, we experts cannot even begin to guarantee that your communications are confidential. In fact at this point I assume they are not, even in Secret Chats mode.
Pavel Durov, the CEO of Telegram, has recently been making a big conspiracy push to promote Telegram as more secure than Signal. This is like promoting ketchup as better for your car than synthetic motor oil. Telegram isn't a secure messenger, full stop. That's a choice Durov …
One concern with open source code is that even if you review the open code, you don't know that this code was used to build the app you download from the App Store. “Reproducible builds” let you build the code on your own computer and compare it to the downloaded code.
Hi, hello, we don't have evidence of extant vulnerabilities, and haven't been notified of anything. We follow responsible disclosure practices, and closely monitor security@signal.org + respond & fix any valid issues quickly. So if you do have more info hit us up! But beyond t…