Telegram founder Pavel Durov has sharply criticized WhatsApp’s privacy model, calling its encryption claims “a major deception” and alleging that the platform does not protect user messages as securely as it suggests.

Durov made the remarks on X while referencing a lawsuit in Texas against Meta-owned WhatsApp over alleged misleading privacy practices. He claimed that WhatsApp employees can access “virtually all” private messages, challenging the company’s end-to-end encryption assurances.

In a follow-up response, he said Telegram has “never disclosed a single byte” of private user messages to third parties. He also noted that he is currently under investigation in France on multiple charges that could result in up to 10 years in prison.

The comments have renewed the long-running dispute between Telegram and WhatsApp over encryption, data access, and user privacy. WhatsApp has consistently maintained that its end-to-end encryption ensures only senders and recipients can read messages, rejecting claims of internal access to private chats.