Telegram surges in popularity following founder Durov’s arrest in France

Telegram has surged to the second position on the social networking app chart in the US App Store following the arrest of its founder, Pavel Durov, in France on charges of enabling illegal activities.

The messaging app climbed to the second spot in the App Store's social media charts in the US, while its global downloads on iOS have risen by 4 per cent, Caliber.Az reports, citing TechCrunch.

Data from Appfigures, a company specializing in app analytics, reveals that Telegram did not immediately jump to the second position on the US App Store social media charts. It reached this rank at 3 a.m. ET on Monday, suggesting that the app's rise in popularity is just beginning. In France, where Durov was detained, Telegram has climbed to the top position in the App Store's Social Media category and ranks third among all apps.

Meanwhile, at a press conference in Brussels on August 27, European Commission (EC) representative Thomas Renier stated that the EC does not directly supervise the activities of Telegram. According to a report by Telegram from last December, the messenger has 41 million users from the European Union (EU).

Under the EU's Digital Service Act (DSA), Telegram is not classified as a very large online platform and therefore is not under the direct supervision of the European Commission. Instead, compliance with the DSA is monitored by individual EU member states, Renier explained.

Renier further mentioned that the EC is currently investigating the reliability of the data concerning the number of Telegram users from the European Union.

Pavel Durov was arrested on August 24, facing allegations of insufficient moderation on his social app, which allegedly turned a blind eye to illegal activities such as drug trafficking, money laundering, and the distribution of child abuse material (CSAM) to flourish. Despite these concerns about inappropriate content on the platform, Telegram is currently experiencing significant growth in downloads.