The arrest of Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov in France is beginning to affect the app’s popularity and ranking.
On Saturday, the founder was arrested for allegedly facilitating illegal activities on the social app by failing to adequately moderate messages, particularly in the areas of drug trafficking, money laundering and the spread of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Despite concerns about the app's content, Telegram is currently seeing a surge in downloads, putting it at number 2 on the US App Store's social networking charts and increasing its global iOS downloads by 4% so far.
Telegram's rise did not occur immediately after Durov's arrest. This could be because many people only learned of the news when catching up on headlines they missed over the weekend, or because third-party sources of app store information have a slight delay in tracking ranking changes.
App intelligence firm Appfigures reports that Telegram only rose to No. 2 on the US App Store's social networking charts at 3 a.m. EST on Monday, suggesting the app's surge has only just begun. It may be a short-lived surge — at the time of publication, for example, the app had already fallen to No. 3 in the social category in the US.
However, in France, where Durov was imprisoned, the app jumped to number 1 in the “Social Networking” category in the App Store and became the third best-selling app overall.
In the top apps list (excluding games), Telegram rose from No. 18 in the U.S. to No. 8, up 10 ranking positions since Friday. This is its highest ranking here since at least Jan. 1, 2023, according to AppFigures.
Typically, Apple's App Store rankings reflect a combination of metrics, such as the number of app installs and download speed, among other factors.
Still, the adage that any press is good press seems to hold true, at least when it comes to Telegram's visibility in the App Store. As users downloaded the app out of curiosity – or even to support the founder's ideas on “free speech” – the app began to climb in the rankings.
According to a separate analysis by market research firm Sensor Tower, the number of global downloads of Telegram on iOS has already increased by 4% since Sunday compared to the previous day.
On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron said the arrest was the result of an “ongoing judicial investigation” and that it would be up to judges to rule on the matter. “It is in no way a political decision,” he said.
