Telegram downloads surge worldwide after founder Pavel Durov arrested in France
Telegram’s popularity is growing after its CEO was arrested. The messaging app has been in the news for a long time due to Pavel Durov being charged with up to 12 crimes, including fraud, drug trafficking and distributing child pornography. However, this serious charge had an initial positive impact on the app’s downloads.
TechCrunch reports that the app has reached the No. 2 spot in the US App Store. On iOS, global downloads increased by 4% through Monday. According to this, Telegram has risen from No. 18 in the US to No. 8, up 10 spots in the rankings, since Friday.
The surge has been happening since the weekend and could have a short-term impact, as US metrics are already declining. In France, where Durov was arrested, Telegram took the top spot in the App Store, becoming the third most used app.
Pavel Durov, the co-founder and CEO of messaging platform Telegram, was arrested on Saturday, August 24, as he stepped off his private jet at Paris-Le Bourget airport. Durov was arrested as part of a police investigation into allegedly enabling a wide range of crimes on his app due to a lack of moderators and cooperation with police.
As a result of this arrest, the media reported on various criminal activities that can be found on his channels, as well as the position of his founder on not moderating the content shared there. Politicians and other figures, such as Elon Musk, the owner of the social network X, came out to Durov's defense.
For its part, the company defended Durov, saying it had nothing to hide and that “Telegram complies with EU legislation, including the Digital Services Act: its moderation is consistent with the standards.” They added: “It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner is responsible for the misuse of that platform. Nearly a billion users worldwide use Telegram as a means of communication and as a source of vital information.”