Telegram Benefits From Russian Invasion Of Ukraine, Sliding WhatsApp Market!

JAKARTA - Telegram has just taken the WhatsApp market in Russia. Now the instant messaging platform is the most popular messaging tool in the country that invaded Ukraine.

Reported Megafon, one of the main cellular operators in Russia, said that people there had flocked to Pavel Durov's service. The Russian market has restricted some digital services including WhatsApp.

It was previously reported that WhatsApp is actually still allowed to operate in the country of the red bear. It's just that two of its social media brothers, Facebook and Instagram, have just been labeled as extremist platforms by the Russian government.

The authorities are actively promoting Telegram. Russia's military operations in Ukraine have added "fuel" to a heated dispute between foreign digital platforms and Moscow.

Data shows Telegram has seen an increase in users in Russia. Data obtained from Megafon. The company says its analysis of mobile internet traffic shows that Telegram's share has jumped to 63 percent. This only happened in the first two weeks of March, out of 48 percent of users, in the first two weeks of February.

Reporting Reuters, Tuesday, March 22, on the other hand, WhatsApp experienced a decrease in users to 32 percent from 48 percent. The average Telegram user consumes 101 MB of data per day. This is much bigger compared to 26 MB on WhatsApp. Telegram has long been a popular news platform in Russia, with nearly all major media, government entities, and public figures operating content channels on the messaging app bearing the blue logo.

"The popularity of the service has grown against the background of restrictions on access to messengers and other social networks. This service began to grow actively on February 24", said Megafon.

In addition to Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, Russia's communications watchdog last week also criticized YouTube. The video streaming platform is accused of engaging in acts of a terrorist nature. Because the application belongs to Alphabet Inc., it allows ads on video-sharing platforms. According to the Kremlin, this could be detrimental to Russian citizens.

"The actions of the YouTube administration are terrorist in nature and threaten the lives and health of Russian citizens", the Russian regulator said.