Telegram, Signal draw millions of new users
Encrypted messaging apps Telegram and Signal report millions of new users since the attacks on the Capitol.
One channel dedicated to Trump gained 300,000 new subscribers in the week since Jan. 6, growing to more than half a million members. Another channel, dedicated to Proud Boys, doubled in size to 30,000 members over the same period.
"Now that they forced us off the main platforms it doesn't mean we go away, it just means we are going to go to places they don't see," one user posted.
NBC News reported this week that some extremists were sharing tips on how to make, conceal and use homemade guns and bombs on Telegram, which on Wednesday began removing dozens of channels promoting violence, white supremacy, and far-right extremism.
Channels on Telegram dedicated to white nationalism, libertarian views and second amendment rights, the right-wing Proud Boys group and conspiracies like QAnon have all seen steep increases in membership where calls for "civil war" are common.
In the last week, many Telegram conversations touched on the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol as well as plans for the next rally, according to data reviewed by USA TODAY collected by researchers at the University of Zurich.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2021/01/13/trump-extremists-banned-facebook-twitter-violence-gab-telegram-signal/4151498001/
Posted By: Steve Williams
Thursday, January 14th 2021 at 9:08AM
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