Following WhatsApp 's announcement that it would share user data with Facebook , encrypted messaging app Telegram saw an explosive growth in its users, as 25 million new people signed up in the last 72 hours.
Telegram's head, Pavel Durov, said on his channel that the app had over 500 million monthly active users in the first weeks of January while "25 million new users joined Telegram in the last 72 hours alone."
This sudden and sharp increase is largely due to the fact that WhatsApp, which has over two billion users, introduced controversial changes to its privacy policies. These changes will allow the platform to share more data with its parent company, Facebook.
"People no longer want to trade their privacy for free services," Durov said without directly referring to the rival app.
According to WhatsApp's new policies, users outside of Europe who do not accept the new terms before February 8 will be banned from the messaging app. This move has already caused a storm of reactions.
Telegram is a popular social media platform in some countries, particularly the former Soviet Union and Iran, and is used both for private communications and for sharing information and news.
As Durov said on Tuesday, Telegram has become the "biggest refuge" for those looking for a private and secure communications platform, and he assured new users that his team "takes this responsibility very seriously.".
Telegram was founded in 2013 by brothers Pavel and Nikolai Durov, who also founded the Russian social media network VKontakte.
Telegram refuses to cooperate with authorities and hand over encryption keys, resulting in the application being banned in many countries, including Russia.
However, Russia intends to lift the ban on the app, after two years of failed attempts to block it.
