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Explosive Surge in Telegram Downloads as Martial Law Hits South Korea

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Since South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law late at night on December 3, there has been a significant increase in new installations of the Telegram messenger app.

Example screen of the Telegram messenger service. Photo unrelated to the article. / Pexels
Example screen of the Telegram messenger service. Photo unrelated to the article. / Pexels

According to Mobile Index on Tuesday, the number of new Telegram installations on December 3, when martial law was declared, totaled 40,576. This is more than four times the 9,016 installations recorded on the previous day, December 2. Even on the following day, December 4, when the martial law situation continued into the morning, new installations reached 33,033. Over 10,000 new installations were recorded on December 5 and 6 as well.

This phenomenon reflects concerns among some users at the time of the martial law declaration that domestic messenger services might be subject to censorship. Immediately after martial law was declared, there were disruptions in accessing services provided by platforms such as Naver and Kakao (Daum), and posts emerged on social media suggesting that users install Telegram as a precaution. Rumors warn of potential worst-case scenarios, such as communication censorship, spread, and creating an atmosphere of digital exile. The recent surge in Telegram installations is believed to reflect these circumstances.

Meanwhile, Telegram is a messenger service launched in 2013 by Nikolai and Pavel Durov, brothers from Russia. The service has rapidly grown in popularity worldwide due to its strong emphasis on encryption and anonymity, which ensure privacy. With servers outside the country, Telegram is challenging to trace and relatively secure. These features have made it a preferred messaging platform in political and financial circles.

inews24
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