14 DAY TRIAL // WhatsApp’s controversial privacy update has caused quite an en-masse migration to alternative services, including Telegram and Signal, as users were concerned their data could eventually land in the hands of Facebook and other third-party companies.
Telegram exceeded 500 million active users earlier this year, and now founder Pavel Durov says the number of accounts activated on the platform skyrocketed even more in the last few days.
The increase has accelerated so much “we may be witnessing the largest digital migration in human history,” Durov explains in a blog post this week, revealing that even political leaders have joined the platform.
Both the Presidents of Brazil and Turkey are now using Telegram, in addition to leaders of France, Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and Mexico, all of which have been active on the platform for quite a while.
Telegram: We’re honored political leaders joined us
Durov highlighted Telegram’s commitment to channel transparency, explaining no manipulative algorithms are active on the platform.
“We are honored that political leaders, as well as numerous public organizations, rely on Telegram to combat misinformation and spread awareness about important issues in their societies. Unlike other networks, Telegram doesn’t use nontransparent algorithms to decide whether a subscriber will see content they subscribed to or not. As a result, Telegram channels are the only direct way for opinion leaders to reliably connect with their audiences,” he said.
WhatsApp has already announced a 3-month delay for the new privacy policy, explaining that it wants to give everyone more time to understand what’s changing. However, the company says consumers aren’t affected, as their data wouldn’t be shared with Facebook or other third parties because the new privacy policy only concerns businesses. The new deadline for enforcing the privacy policy is May 15.