Popular instant messaging freeware, cross-platform, cloud-based instant messaging software and application service; Telegram, has achieved an impressive increase in its total number of new users just less than one week after WhatsApp announced changes to its policies that resulted widespread public outcry.
Telegram’s founder; Pavel Durov revealed that the platform now officially has more than half a billion monthly users and received more than 25 million users in the past couple of days.
According to him, “In the first week of January, Telegram surpassed 500 million monthly active users. After that it kept growing: 25 million new users joined Telegram in the last 72 hours alone.”
The founder also revealed that the new users came from all over the world.
8 percent of the new users came from Middle East and North Africa; also referred to as the MENA region, 21 percent came from Latin America, 27 percent came from Europe, and 38 percent came from Asia.
Pavel Durov says the growth is as a result of the users need for more privacy. In his words, “People no longer want to exchange their privacy for free services. They no longer want to be held hostage by tech monopolies that seem to think they can get away with anything as long as their apps have a critical mass of users.”
The statement is seen by some as an indirect shot at its competitor; WhatsApp which is owned by Facebook.
Telegram which provides end-to-end encrypted video calling, VoIP, file sharing and several other features, appears to be focused on capitalizing on the backlash its competitor; WhatsApp, is currently experiencing due to its updated policy that will be implemented from the 8th of February 2021.
Telegram’s founder said, “With half a billion active users and accelerating growth, Telegram has become the largest refuge for those seeking a communication platform committed to privacy and security. We take this responsibility very seriously. We won’t let you down.”
Another competitor to WhatsApp; Signal which is an alternative cross-platform encrypted messaging service developed by the Signal Foundation and Signal Messenger, has also experienced an increase in users since WhatsApp’s policy update announcement. Signal even went on to report that it was experiencing delays in phone number verifications for its new accounts across various cell providers.
Signal in a Tweet revealed that, “Verification codes are currently delayed across several providers because so many new people are trying to join Signal right now (we can barely register our excitement).”
WhatsApp in response to the negative feedback from its users and in a bid to clarify its announcement, revealed that the new update to its policy does not affect the privacy of messages.
According to WhatsApp via its blog, “We want to be clear that the policy update does not affect the privacy of your messages with friends or family in any way. Instead, this update includes changes related to messaging a business on WhatsApp, which is optional, and provides further transparency about how we collect and use data.”
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