On Jan. 6, the same day rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, the Facebook-owned messaging platform, WhatsApp, rolled out new policies that initially appeared to preserve messages on the ephemeral platform, rather than deleting them automatically.
Though WhatsApp has explained and walked back the changes, millions of users left for other encrypted messaging services like Signal and Telegram. Within a few days, far-right extremists looking for ways to communicate without being subjected to “deplatforming” by other social sites, popped up on Signal and Telegram, too.
But the sudden growth, and concerns about how their apps could be used to spread extremism, have created turmoil at Signal and Telegram. Tech expert Omar Gallaga says all this popularity has put pressure on the smaller platforms.
What you’ll hear in this segment:
– How WhatsApp angered users
– How WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram are similar
– Why Telegram and Signal are popular around the world