Telegram adds 70 million users during Facebook, WhatsApp outage

Telegram has revealed the instant messaging app added over 70 million users during a recent outage at Facebook that also impacted WhatsApp.

The app’s founder Pavel Durov announced the number on his channel.

“Yesterday, Telegram experienced a record increase in user registration and activity,” he said.

“The daily growth rate of Telegram exceeded the norm by an order of magnitude, and we welcomed over 70 million refugees from other platforms in one day.”

Durov also thanked the app’s team for handling the user influx without reported problems.

“For the new users I’d like to say this – welcome to Telegram, the largest independent messaging platform,” he said.

Users boarded Telegram as Facebook and WhatsApp were down

On 4 October, Facebook suffered a worldwide outage that impacted its apps and services, including Instagram and WhatsApp.

The outage lasted for six hours.

During that time, users could not use the social media giant’s platforms. This included messaging functions on WhatsApp.

Following the outage, Facebook issued a public apology.

This is not the first time Telegram has experienced an influx of users due to developments at WhatsApp.

Earlier this year, Facebook delayed a deadline for WhatsApp users to accept changes to the app’s privacy policy and terms of service following severe backlash.

The changes clarified how the company shares user data when it comes to the business messaging functionality on WhatsApp.

Following the announcement of the changes, both Telegram and Signal became the top downloaded apps in several countries, including South Africa.

Read more: Facebook pauses development of “Instagram Kids” app

Featured image: Pixabay/usnotv