Telegram adds 25 million new users in the last 72 hours

Telegram on Wednesday said it had added 25 million new users in the last 72 hours alone. The new users came from across the world. Asia contributed the most with 38% addition. About 27% of users came from Europe, while 21% came from Latin America. 8% of new users came from MENA.

Telegram, just like Signal, is registering a surge in downloads after WhatsApp introduced a new policy that raised concerns among privacy-conscious users. Users are flocking to alternative platforms that are deemed more secure and private. The likes of Elon Musk have also encouraged the migration from Facebook-owned WhatsApp.

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According to a Sensor Tower report, Signal and Telegram witnessed almost four million downloads in India after WhatsApp’s policy change. Signal led the race with 2.3 million new downloads between January 6 and January 10, while Telegram clocked 1.5 million new downloads over the same period.

Hailing the surge in new users, Pavel Durov said that people are no longer interested in free services in exchange for their privacy.

He said, “This is a significant increase compared to last year, when 1.5M new users signed up every day. We've had surges of downloads before, throughout our 7-year history of protecting user privacy. But this time is different.

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.

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.”