WhatsApp's controversial new privacy policy prompted the exodus of thousands of users amid fears that the instant messaging platform would share even more sensitive user data with its parent company, Facebook.
WhatsApp's loss was every messaging platform's gain it seems. Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, described the exodus as "the largest digital migration in human history."
In consecutive blog posts on his Telegram channel, Durov listed how his platform benefitted from WhatsApp's folly.
On January 14 he said: "We may be witnessing the largest digital migration in human history" and boasted that two more world leaders – Brazilian and Turkish presidents, Jairo Bolsonaro and Recep Tayyip Erdogan – have migrated to the platform.
"We are honoured that political leaders, as well as numerous public organisations, rely on Telegram to combat misinformation and spread awareness about important issues in their society," said Durov.
Durov feels that people no longer want to exchange their privacy for free service and "no longer want to be held hostage by tech monopolies that seem to think they can get away with anything as long as their apps have a critical mass of users."