Hong Kong protests fuel uptake of encrypted Telegram, Reddit-like LIHKG apps
- Messaging app Telegram gained about 110,000 new users in the city in July
- LIHKG, a message board that operates like Reddit, added 120,000 new users in the same period
First-time users of Telegram surged in Hong Kong after protesters flocked to the popular messaging app during the months-long demonstrations that gripped the city, new data from Sensor Tower shows.
Telegram, which was first released in 2016, gained about 110,000 new users in Hong Kong in July across the Apple App Store and Google Play.
First-time installations more than quadrupled, pushing the app to become the city’s seventh most downloaded last month, up from No 88 a year earlier, according to apps analytics firm Sensor Tower. In total, Telegram has been installed 1.7 million times in Hong Kong and 365 million globally.
There were only 12,000 downloads of the app back in July 2018, but that number soared last month, when it added 120,000 new users, Sensor Tower said.
The rapid surge in usage underscores the importance of mobile apps in helping protesters coordinate and spread information about rallies, marches and other actions.
Unlike past protests, the current uprising in Hong Kong is bereft of a central leader and instead relies on crowdsourced opinions and flash mobs that are often organised anonymously on these mobile services.
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