Telegram ban in India sparks a rush to VPNs, rival apps
Telegram ban in India sparks a rush to VPNs, rival apps
印度封禁 Telegram 引发 VPN 与竞品应用下载潮
As India cut off access to messaging app Telegram for a week over concerns about exam-related fraud, users turned to virtual private networks (VPNs) and alternative messaging apps in unusually large numbers. 由于担心考试相关的欺诈行为，印度切断了即时通讯应用 Telegram 为期一周的访问权限，这导致用户大量涌向虚拟专用网络（VPN）和替代性通讯应用。
App intelligence firm Appfigures told TechCrunch that Tuesday, the day India announced the Telegram restriction, marked the biggest day for VPN app downloads in the country since at least the start of 2025. Downloads of major VPN apps rose 49% from a recent daily average of 139,000 to 208,000, the firm said. 应用情报公司 Appfigures 向 TechCrunch 表示，印度宣布限制 Telegram 的当天（周二），是该国自 2025 年初以来 VPN 应用下载量最高的一天。该公司称，主要 VPN 应用的下载量从近期日均 13.9 万次激增至 20.8 万次，涨幅达 49%。
Proton VPN and Turbo VPN recorded some of the largest increases. Downloads of Proton VPN on Apple’s App Store in India jumped 113%, while Turbo VPN downloads rose 85%. On Google Play, downloads of Proton VPN climbed 64% and Turbo VPN downloads increased 35%. NordVPN’s App Store downloads increased 41%, while ExpressVPN downloads on Google Play rose 31%. Proton VPN 和 Turbo VPN 的增幅最为显著。Proton VPN 在印度苹果 App Store 的下载量飙升了 113%，Turbo VPN 的下载量则增长了 85%。在 Google Play 上，Proton VPN 的下载量增长了 64%，Turbo VPN 增长了 35%。NordVPN 在 App Store 的下载量增长了 41%，而 ExpressVPN 在 Google Play 上的下载量则增长了 31%。
The surge also pushed several VPN services up India’s app store charts. Proton VPN climbed from 18th to 5th in Apple’s Utilities rankings between June 16 and June 18, while its Google Play ranking rose from 8th to 2nd in the Tools category, according to Appfigures. 这一激增也推动了多家 VPN 服务在印度应用商店排行榜上的名次。据 Appfigures 数据显示，6 月 16 日至 18 日期间，Proton VPN 在苹果“工具”类排行榜中的名次从第 18 位跃升至第 5 位，而在 Google Play 的“工具”类别中，其排名从第 8 位升至第 2 位。
The spike in VPN demand followed India’s decision to temporarily restrict Telegram until June 22 over concerns that fraudsters were using the platform to target candidates ahead of a retest for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate), the country’s largest entrance examination by applicant volume. The Indian government said the measure was needed to prevent the spread of fake exam papers and related scams. VPN 需求的激增源于印度政府决定暂时限制 Telegram 使用至 6 月 22 日。政府担心诈骗者利用该平台在“国家资格暨入学考试（本科）”（该国申请人数最多的入学考试）重考前针对考生进行欺诈。印度政府表示，此举旨在防止虚假试卷和相关诈骗信息的传播。
Telegram challenged the order in the Delhi High Court, arguing that authorities should target specific content rather than block the entire platform. The court, however, upheld the restriction on Friday. Telegram 向德里高等法院对该禁令提出质疑，主张当局应针对特定内容进行处理，而非封锁整个平台。然而，法院在周五维持了这一限制决定。
The response extended beyond app store download data. Proton said daily registrations from India rose 120% above baseline levels on Wednesday, after hourly registrations had already spiked 150% on Tuesday evening following the Telegram restriction. The company described the increase as “extremely noteworthy” given its existing scale in the country. 这种反应不仅体现在应用商店的下载数据上。Proton 表示，周三来自印度的每日注册量比基准水平高出 120%，而在周二晚间 Telegram 限制令发布后，其每小时注册量已激增了 150%。考虑到该公司在印度的现有规模，其将这一增长描述为“极其值得注意”。
Canadian VPN service provider Windscribe reported a similar trend. The company told TechCrunch that sign-ups from India peaked roughly 100% above baseline levels, while first-time downloads of its iOS app in the country rose about 89%. 加拿大 VPN 服务提供商 Windscribe 也报告了类似的趋势。该公司告诉 TechCrunch，来自印度的注册量峰值比基准水平高出约 100%，而其 iOS 应用在该国的首次下载量增长了约 89%。
“The spike in India follows the same general trend we see in areas that ban specific apps, introduce age bans or verification requirements, or otherwise restrict internet access,” Rebecca Rosenberg, growth operations manager at Windscribe, said. Windscribe 的增长运营经理 Rebecca Rosenberg 表示：“印度出现的激增趋势，与我们在其他封禁特定应用、引入年龄限制或验证要求，或以其他方式限制互联网访问的地区所观察到的总体趋势一致。”
Surfshark also reported higher demand from India, saying it had seen a roughly 30% increase in connectivity from the country since the restriction was announced earlier this week. The trend was not limited to a handful of VPN providers. Sensor Tower told TechCrunch that downloads across the VPN app category in India rose 10% day-over-day on June 17, reversing a decline seen over the previous two weeks. Surfshark 也报告了来自印度的需求增长，称自本周初宣布限制措施以来，来自该国的连接量增加了约 30%。这种趋势并不局限于少数几家 VPN 提供商。Sensor Tower 向 TechCrunch 表示，6 月 17 日印度 VPN 类应用的下载量环比增长了 10%，扭转了此前两周的下滑趋势。
“Spikes in demand for VPNs tend to follow any kind of platform restriction, regardless of the reason behind it,” said Laura Tyrylyte, a privacy advocate at NordVPN. “When access to a tool people rely on is suddenly removed, they look for alternatives fast.” NordVPN 的隐私倡导者 Laura Tyrylyte 表示：“无论背后的原因是什么，任何形式的平台限制往往都会导致 VPN 需求激增。当人们依赖的工具突然无法使用时，他们会迅速寻找替代方案。”
Tyrylyte told TechCrunch that the response to Telegram’s restriction in India suggests users are becoming increasingly familiar with circumvention tools and are reacting more quickly to online restrictions than in the past. Tyrylyte 告诉 TechCrunch，印度对 Telegram 限制令的反应表明，用户对翻墙工具越来越熟悉，并且比过去能更快地应对网络限制。
Users also appeared to be exploring alternatives to Telegram. Appfigures said downloads of Signal in India rose 72% on Apple’s App Store and 322% on Google Play following the restriction, while Viber’s App Store downloads increased 216%. Telegram-linked messaging app iMe recorded one of the sharpest jumps. Its Google Play downloads rose from a recent daily average of about 827 to 50,900 on June 16, Appfigures said. 用户似乎也在探索 Telegram 的替代品。Appfigures 表示，限制令发布后，Signal 在印度苹果 App Store 的下载量增长了 72%，在 Google Play 上增长了 322%，而 Viber 在 App Store 的下载量增长了 216%。与 Telegram 关联的通讯应用 iMe 记录了最剧烈的增长之一。Appfigures 称，其 Google Play 下载量从近期日均约 827 次跃升至 6 月 16 日的 50,900 次。
Yet the restriction did not immediately translate into lower Telegram usage. Sensor Tower said Telegram’s daily active users in India rose 17% on the day the measure was announced — the app’s largest day-over-day increase in the country since a widespread outage of Meta’s services in 2021. 然而，这一限制并没有立即导致 Telegram 的使用量下降。Sensor Tower 表示，在宣布该措施的当天，Telegram 在印度的日活跃用户数增长了 17%，这是该应用自 2021 年 Meta 服务大范围中断以来在印度单日增幅最大的一次。
Other data points also suggest heightened efforts to access Telegram following the restriction. Cloudflare Radar lead Lai Yi Ohlsen told TechCrunch that DNS requests for Telegram domains in India increased sharply over the two days after the measure was announced. The company cautioned that higher DNS traffic does not necessarily indicate successful access to the platform and could reflect users repeatedly attempting to reach Telegram after it was blocked. 其他数据点也表明，在限制令发布后，用户访问 Telegram 的尝试有所增加。Cloudflare Radar 负责人 Lai Yi Ohlsen 向 TechCrunch 表示，在措施宣布后的两天内，印度对 Telegram 域名的 DNS 请求急剧增加。该公司提醒称，DNS 流量增加并不一定意味着成功访问了该平台，也可能反映了用户在平台被封锁后反复尝试连接的情况。
Telegram pointed to its efforts to cooperate with authorities during hearings in the Delhi High Court this week. Its lawyers said the company had removed channels identified by authorities and questioned the need for a platform-wide restriction affecting what Telegram says are over 150 million users in India. Telegram 在本周德里高等法院的听证会上强调了其配合当局的努力。其律师表示，公司已经删除了当局指出的频道，并质疑是否有必要进行平台级的封锁，因为这影响了 Telegram 所称的印度超过 1.5 亿用户。
Government lawyers defended the measure as a temporary, event-linked response tied to the NEET retest. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that a permanent ban could raise proportionality concerns but argued the current restriction had a “logical nexus” to the objective being pursued. In its ruling on Friday, the court found that authorities had followed the prescribed procedure given the emergency nature of the order. 政府律师为该措施辩护称，这是一种与 NEET 重考相关的临时性、事件驱动的应对措施。副总检察长 Tushar Mehta 向法院表示，永久禁令可能会引发比例原则方面的担忧，但他认为目前的限制与所追求的目标之间存在“逻辑联系”。法院在周五的裁决中认定，鉴于该命令的紧急性质，当局已遵循了规定的程序。
According to Surfshark’s Internet Shutdown Tracker, Telegram is currently blocked in 13 countries and has faced disruptions in at least 40 others over the years. Such restrictions have often been followed by a surge in demand for circumvention tools. Sensor Tower said VPN downloads in the U.S. rose more than 40% week-over-week when TikTok was briefly removed from U.S. app stores in 2025, while Windscribe said it has observed similar patterns following restrictions in countries such as Iran and Russia. 根据 Surfshark 的“互联网关闭追踪器”显示，Telegram 目前在 13 个国家被封锁，多年来在至少 40 个其他国家面临过中断。此类限制往往伴随着对翻墙工具需求的激增。Sensor Tower 表示，2025 年 TikTok 在美国应用商店被短暂下架时，美国的 VPN 下载量周环比增长超过 40%；而 Windscribe 也表示，在伊朗和俄罗斯等国实施限制后，他们观察到了类似的模式。