Well-known messaging app Telegram obtained more than 70 million new users on Monday’s Facebook blackout, said its founder Pavel Durov on Tuesday, as people globally were devoid of primary messaging services for almost six hours.
Facebook indicted its interruption, which barred its 3.5 billion users from obtaining platforms such as WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger, on a defective configuration modification.
“The daily growth rate of Telegram exceeded the norm by order of magnitude, and we welcomed over 70 million refugees from other platforms in one day,” Durov wrote on his Telegram channel.
Durov stated that users in the Americas may have encountered slower speeds as millions raced to sign up for the platform simultaneously. Still, the platform worked normally for most of the users.
EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said the blackout illustrated the consequences of depending on some giant players and emphasised the demand for more competitors.
Russia said the episode proved Moscow was right in developing its sovereign internet platforms and social media channels.
On Monday, WhatsApp’s almost six-hour-long interruption knocked trading assets from cryptocurrencies to Russian oil, market players said, although a quick alteration to different platforms such as Telegram restricted drastic interruption.
