Despite the Ban, Telegram is Becoming Popular in Russia

According to a recent study, after the ban of messaging app Telegram by Moscow court in April, the members of Telegram groups have increased significantly. In the study, the top 50 Russian language channels were covered. Though in the summer months there was a decrease in the views of published posts the readership of all examined channels has increased by 21% and 49% in cryptocurrency category.

In April, Russian authorities imposed a ban on the popular messaging platform Telegram after the company refused to hand over its users’ encrypted messages to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB). According to the founder and chief executive officer of Telegram, Pavel Durov, the right to privacy is more important than our fear of happening bad things such as terrorism. Despite the ban, there have not a significant drop in the user engagement on Telegram because Russians are bypassing the ban and continue using the virtual messaging platform.

Still, after several months of the imposed ban on Telegram, there is a significant increase in the Russian users who are interested in cryptocurrencies. According to the recent research of top 50 Russian language channels, the members of cryptocurrency related Telegram groups have increased by 49% since April when the ban was officially imposed on the messaging app Telegram. The readers of Telegram have increased by 21% during the same period. Most of the Russian audiences are interested in cryptocurrency, business, and economy. The readers in business and economy category have jumped by 35%.

The study has also covered groups in Telegram category. The Russian language channel of Pavel Durov, Telblog’s subscribers has increased by 186%. Average post reach has also grown by 28% in this group. In the study, it is also found that there is a steady decrease in the frequency of posting on the study channels during the holiday season. It can be because of the lower user activity and drop in a number of views during the holiday season. After the holiday period, in August a positive trend of views has been detected in the cryptocurrency category.