March 14, 2019, 06:13 PM 
It seems every cloud has a silver lining.
WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram went down globally for several hours from March 14 to 15 (Singapore time).
Correspondingly, Telegram saw an increase in its number of new sign ups.
Pavel Durov, CEO and founder of Telegram. Via Facebook.
On March 14, Telegram CEO and founder Pavel Durov announced on his Telegram channel that the messaging platform saw an increase of 3 million new users within the last 24 hours.
Screenshot via Pavel Durov's Telegram Channel.
And then in an apparent swipe at Facebook (which owns WhatsApp and Instagram), the Russian entrepreneur said, "Good. We have true privacy and unlimited space for everyone".
As recent as last year, Facebook faced public backlash and lawsuits arising from the way it handles user data.
This isn't the first time a WhatsApp blip has led to a bit of a boost for Telegram.
In 2016, Telegram gained one million users in just a day following a ban on WhatsApp in Brazil.
Since we're on the topic of Telegram channels...
Top images via Durov's Facebook page and Telegram channel.
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