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WhatsApp Telegram

WhatsApp reportedly censors links to rival service Telegram.me

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By John McCarthy, Opinion Editor

December 1, 2015 | 2 min read

WhatsApp users are complaining that messages containing hyperlinks leading to rival messaging app Telegram.me are being blocked by the Facebook-owned group.

The issue, first noticed on Reddit, was reportedly silently implemented in a recent build of WhatsApp – which is yet to reach many of users.

Whatsapp, which boasts over one billion users worldwide, is keen to continue growing its supremacy in the comms sector.

However, Telegram.me serves as a worthy competitor (with a 4.2 average review on the Play store) and can be utilised as an alternative to the Facebook-owned app during outages.

Hyperlinks featuring Telegram.org failed to link users to the website, with Android Police confirming that the block was unlikely to be caused by a bug as sites including the KKK and the Pirate Bay linked without issue.

A Telegram spokesperson told the Verge: "Typically after a media backlash, FB steps back and blames their intelligent filtering for the problem, we expect the same to happen this time as well."

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