After Durov was detained he was then forbidden from traveling outside France as the courts addressed his case. At first, Durov remained firm on Telegram’s policies about free speech and not restricting its users. This also landed him with charges for not cooperating with the authorities.
In a show of support for Durov and his platform, downloads for Telegram soared through the roof during that time period. Telegram quickly became the second most popular social app on the App Store in the U.S. and enjoyed similar positions in other regions of the world as well.
However, after years of being lauded as the platform for freedom of expression, Telegram seems to be reversing course. At first, Telegram introduced a new way to report “illegal content”. The app also sneakily altered its FAQ section and removed its claims of not monitoring private conversations and group chats.
The downfall begins. | Image credit — PhoneArena
Whether you agree with the new direction Telegram is taking or not, it’s hard to deny that the platform will just not be the same again. If Telegram is now going to be handing over your data to authorities it might see a mass exodus as a large portion of the user base leaves for alternatives.
It also remains to be seen how the app will handle users who use the platform without providing a phone number and via a VPN. We might see a mandatory phone number requirement in the future, and that would be really controversial.