WhatsApp is blocking Telegram links
1–10 of 240 posts
Re: WhatsApp is blocking Telegram links
#2Wow, didn't expect this from WhatsApp. I wonder if we can hear it from their side to see if they have a specific reason. Also, are they blocking any other messenger links i.e WeChat, Line etc or just Telegram.
Re: WhatsApp is blocking Telegram links
#3Wow, didn't expect this from WhatsApp. I wonder if we can hear it from their side to see if they have a specific reason. Also, are they blocking any other messenger links i.e WeChat, Line etc or just Telegram.
It's not particularly surprising considering they are owned by Facebook.
Re: WhatsApp is blocking Telegram links
#4My suspicion woud be that they triggered some automated anti-spam system.
Intentionally blocking your competitor in this situation doesn't seem like a good idea, it mostly generates publicity for them.
Re: WhatsApp is blocking Telegram links
#5My suspicion woud be that they triggered some automated anti-spam system. Intentionally blocking your competitor in this situation doesn't seem like a good idea, it mostly generates publicity for them.
The Android APKs have been decompiled which confirmed this was completely intentional:
http://www.androidpolice.com/2015/12/01/whatsapp-is-blocking...
> The smoking gun is a pattern match performed on any URL string that begins with the word 'telegram.' In the most recent version of the app, these strings are classified as a "bad host," so that no hyperlink is generated and it becomes impossible to copy or forward any message with that URL. No other strings trigger the match, so this block is purposefully targeted at Telegram.
Re: WhatsApp is blocking Telegram links
#6My suspicion woud be that they triggered some automated anti-spam system. Intentionally blocking your competitor in this situation doesn't seem like a good idea, it mostly generates publicity for them.
This has been going on for a week or more and has gained a decent amount of publicity. Given that telegram is a legitimate service, and they haven't reversed it yet, seems to indicate that this is a direct attack.
In addition, if you are familiar with how whatsapp works, stopping any spam would be much more effective by targeting the phone numbers sending spam, not to mention the difficulty of spamming telephone numbers.. not impossible, but difficult.. which is why whatsapp spam so far has been non-existent AFAIK.
Re: WhatsApp is blocking Telegram links
#7My suspicion woud be that they triggered some automated anti-spam system. Intentionally blocking your competitor in this situation doesn't seem like a good idea, it mostly generates publicity for them.
The Android APKs have been decompiled which confirmed this was completely intentional: http://www.androidpolice.com/2015/12/01/whatsapp-is-blocking... > The smoking gun is a pattern match performed on any URL string that begins with the word 'telegram.' In the most recent version of the app, these strings are classified as a "bad host," so that no hyperlink is generated and it becomes impossible to copy or forward an…
Thanks, that looks like really solid evidence for intentionally blocking them. I see no way to explain this than anything but an attempt to block their competitor.
I still think this will result in more publicity for Telegram than all the messages that are blocked.
Re: WhatsApp is blocking Telegram links
#8Whatsapp (facebook) is not the only the only company keen on censoring.
Airbnb chat also censors messages. Typically when you try to give your number or whatsapp or some link.
Re: WhatsApp is blocking Telegram links
#9I use both whatsapp and telegram.. with whatsapp being the majority of my messaging, I'd been a little apprehensive since the facebook takeover, but haven't changed my usage habits. This was exactly what it took for me to start pushing my friends to telegram.
Re: WhatsApp is blocking Telegram links
#10Wow, didn't expect this from WhatsApp. I wonder if we can hear it from their side to see if they have a specific reason. Also, are they blocking any other messenger links i.e WeChat, Line etc or just Telegram.
It's not particularly surprising considering they are owned by Facebook.
but they had to know that people would go dig through the sourcecode and find out that it was not just some random glitch, but a deliberate action on their part