Signal President Meredith Whittaker Criticizes Telegram: "Marketing Has Replaced Substance"
Signal aims to expand its privacy-focused messaging platform amid growing challenges from competitors and government pressures.
By Florian Hetz and Jordi Pérez Colomé
Published September 14, 2025
Signal, a messaging app renowned for its strong stance on privacy, continues to grow as it faces tough competition and political challenges around the world. Meredith Whittaker, president of the Signal Foundation, recently shared her candid views on the current state of messaging apps, privacy, and the hurdles Signal must overcome in an exclusive interview with EL PAÍS English.
Signal’s Commitment to Privacy: “The Gold Standard”
Founded in 2014, Signal has often been overshadowed by larger players like WhatsApp and Telegram but maintains a devoted following due to its strong privacy protections. Whittaker, who took the helm of Signal Foundation after a distinguished career including work at Google, likens Signal’s offering to "100% gold," contrasting this with WhatsApp, which she says is like "10% gold mixed with 90% brass."
She emphasized, “Privacy is our sole focus. We do one thing and we do it very, very well, which is provide the world’s largest actually private communications platform.” Signal is open-source, end-to-end encrypted, run by a non-profit, and most notably, it does not retain user metadata, making it impossible for the company to comply with requests for user information from governments or law enforcement.
Whittaker illustrates this point firmly: “We don’t know who your contact list is. We don’t know who you’re texting. We don’t know who’s in your groups. We don’t know your profile photo. We literally cannot turn that information over, even if you put a gun to my head.”
Combating Misconceptions About Privacy Apps
Signal’s commitment to privacy has not been without controversy. The app has appeared in headlines linked to sensitive political and military discussions, such as those involving the U.S. Department of Defense and Spanish political figures. Whittaker dismisses concerns that Signal facilitates wrongdoing, stating, “It’s like, ‘Let’s drive this contraband over the border and use the highway.’ Is that a story about the highway or about the guys [using it]?”
She warns against confusing the infrastructure of privacy tools with the actions of individuals: “Bad actors weaponize privacy as the reason for bad actions instead of going after the root causes.”
The Network Effect: Signal’s Main Challenge
Despite its strengths, Signal faces a critical issue known as the "network effect"—the social dynamics that make it difficult for new communication platforms to gain widespread adoption unless many users join at once. Whittaker acknowledges this is the biggest hurdle for Signal: “Ultimately, communication is not about technology. We choose our communications technology because we want to talk to our friends. Even the most ideologically committed cryptographer can’t use Signal if their friends don’t use it.”
However, she remains optimistic, citing gradual shifts in user behavior: “More and more examples are leading people to say, ‘I don’t want this on WhatsApp. I don’t want this on Meta’s servers.’ And then they switch to Signal.”
Whittaker’s Critique of WhatsApp and Telegram
Whittaker did not hold back her criticism of Signal’s competitors. While WhatsApp employs Signal’s encryption technology for its messages, it still collects extensive user metadata, which could be exploited in harmful ways. “That could piece together a very intimate picture,” Whittaker warns, citing examples such as potential discrimination based on health status.
Telegram poses a different issue, according to Whittaker. She pointed out that Telegram offers many features beyond messaging and uses encryption selectively only in specific contexts. “It’s way too easy for marketing to replace substance,” she said. “Telegram has a compelling, if slightly shady, origin story, and they make claims that simply aren’t backed with technical facts.” Whittaker explained how this misinformation can have deadly consequences when users wrongly believe Telegram ensures privacy, yet their chats are exposed to authoritarian regimes.
Battling Governments and Corporate Pressure
Signal’s privacy mission puts it at odds with both powerful corporations and governments. Whittaker highlighted the ongoing struggle against companies whose business models rely on data harvesting, as well as governments seeking to undermine encryption for surveillance. She described the current environment as “a really, really big battle to be taking on as a small organization like ours.”
Facing Regulatory Threats: Chat Control in the European Union
Looking ahead, Signal braces for regulatory decisions in the European Union regarding measures such as Chat Control, which would require apps to scan messages to detect child exploitation material—potentially breaking encryption in the process. Signal has firmly declared it will not weaken its encryption, even if that means being forced to exit certain markets.
“We take our responsibility with people who rely on us really seriously,” said Whittaker. “That is not a threat we make lightly.” She voiced concern over what she described as a “lack of understanding of technology’s very real capabilities” that could lead to misguided legislation.
Growth Prospects and Outlook
Despite being less popular than WhatsApp and Telegram globally, Signal is seeing growth in specific regions. The Netherlands stands out as a country where Signal is among the top 10 most downloaded apps. Other European countries like Germany and Switzerland also show signs of adoption, while the Spanish-speaking world is experiencing incremental increases in interest.
Whittaker remains confident: “We have seen significant growth in Europe, in particular.”
Meredith Whittaker’s leadership at Signal represents a steadfast commitment to privacy at a time when the landscape of digital communication is increasingly fraught with commercial pressures and political scrutiny. Her frank assessment of competitors like Telegram and WhatsApp underscores the challenges of maintaining true privacy in the modern era—and Signal’s determination to stand firm regardless of the obstacles ahead.
