Popular messenger in America
Since the storming of the Capitol by Trump supporters and the subsequent blocking of the US president's accounts, Telegram has become the second most downloaded in the US. However, WhatsApp's new policy could also have influenced its rise in popularity.
Telegram messenger has become the second most downloaded app in the US, after Twitter permanently blocked the account of incumbent President Donald Trump and Apple and Google removed the Parler social network popular with his supporters from app shops. This was reported by The Daily Telegraph.
According to the newspaper, Telegram has been downloaded around 545,000 times in the US in the week since January 6, which is almost three times more than the week before. In addition to the blocking of Trump-related accounts, the rise in Telegram's popularity could also have been affected by a change in the privacy policy of another popular messenger, WhatsApp. On January 8, the administration of the latter announced that personal data of WhatsApp users was being made available to all Facebook app families.
The Telegram founder also commented on the removal of the social network Parler, which was used by Trump supporters, from the App Store and Google Play shops. Apple and Google accused it of lacking moderation and spreading "threats to public safety". "Apple and Google pose a much bigger problem for freedom than Twitter. Apple is the most dangerous of the two because it can completely restrict your access to apps", he said.