Cloud-based, privacy-focused messenger system Telegram added a whopping 3 million new users to its estimated 200 million user base in a single day after Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp all went down.

Telegram’s founder and CEO Pavel Durov announced the massive uptick in registered users on his personal channel on Thursday, boasting about the merits of his popular alternative messenger app.

I see 3 million new users signed up for Telegram within the last 24 hours. Good. We have true privacy and unlimited space for everyone.

The spike in sign-ups, which was about five times higher than the norm, was likely a result of Wednesday’s world-wide outage affecting Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, which are all owned by Facebook, Inc.e was not related to a DDoS attack, but have not yet specified what actually went wrong.

We're focused on working to resolve the issue as soon as possible, but can confirm that the issue is not related to a DDoS attack. — Facebook (@facebook) March 13, 2019

Unlike Facebook which bases its income on ad revenue, Telegram is funded by user donations, and includes features like encrypted end-to-end messaging. This is an important draw for people concerned with their privacy online, particularly in light of the fact that Facebook, Inc. is reportedly currently under criminal investigation for secret data sharing deals.

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