Signal, another free-too-use encrypted
messaging app, was downloaded 246,000 times
in the week before WhatsApp announced the
change and 8.8 million times the week after. In
India, downloads climbed from 12,000 to 2.7
million in the week, and in the United Kingdom,
the figure rose from 7,400 to 191,000. The United
States also saw downloads jump from 63,000 in
the week prior to the announcement to more
than 1.1 million, demonstrating the public
mood against Facebook and WhatsApp. Signal
received so many new downloads in the week
that it deployed dozens of new servers, releasing
a statement to tell users that they “continue to
shatter traffic records and add capacity as more
and more people come to terms with how much
they dislike Facebook’s new terms,” reassuring
new and existing users that they’re “ready
to serve you.” Even Tesla founder Elon Musk
publicly endorsed Signal in a tweet on
January 7 in yet another blow to Facebook.
In the same period as Signal and Telegram’s