The arrest of Telegram creator and CEO Pavel Durov in France is beginning to have an influence on the app's popularity and position.
The founder was arrested last month for allegedly allowing illicit practices to thrive on the social media platform by failing to properly monitor posts, particularly in drug trafficking, money laundering, and the spread of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
Despite concerns regarding the app's content, Telegram is now experiencing a spike in downloads, propelling it to the No. 2 spot on the U.S. App Store's Social Networking charts and increasing global iOS downloads by 4%.
After Durov's arrest, Telegram took some time to rise. This might be the case because a lot of individuals found out about the news only after reading the stories they had missed over the weekend, or because third-party sources of app store intelligence take a little longer to report changes in rankings.
According to Appfigures, an app intelligence company, Telegram didn't rise to the No. 2 spot on the Social Networking charts on the U.S. App Store until 3 a.m. EST on Monday, suggesting that the app is just now starting to gain traction. The app had already fallen to No. 3 in Social in the U.S. as of the time of publication, so it might only be a temporary boost.
However, the app shot to the top of the App Store's Social Networking category and rose to become the third most popular app overall in France, the country where Durov was arrested. After climbing ten spots since Friday, Telegram now stands at No. 8 in the top apps chart (which does not include games). Appfigures stated that this is the highest position it has held here since at least January 1, 2023. Apple often uses a combination of measures, including download velocity and app install count, to determine app store rankings.
Nevertheless, the cliché "any press is good press" appears to hold true, at least in terms of Telegram's exposure on the App Store. As consumers downloaded the app out of curiosity — or possibly to support the founder's views about "free speech" — it began to rise in the rankings.
