Hustler Words – India’s recent week-long embargo on the popular messaging platform Telegram, enacted amidst concerns over exam-related fraud, inadvertently triggered an unprecedented digital scramble. Users across the nation swiftly adopted virtual private networks (VPNs) and rival communication applications in a remarkable display of digital adaptation, as reported by Hustler Words.
App intelligence firm Appfigures, in data shared with Hustler Words, revealed a monumental spike in VPN app installations. The day India announced the Telegram restriction witnessed the highest volume of VPN app downloads since at least early 2025, with installations soaring by 49% from a daily average of 139,000 to an astonishing 208,000.
This surge was not uniform but significantly impacted key players in the VPN market. Proton VPN saw downloads on Apple’s App Store in India jump by 113%, while its Google Play downloads increased by 64%. Turbo VPN experienced an 85% rise on the App Store and a 35% boost on Google Play. Other major services like NordVPN recorded a 41% App Store increase, and ExpressVPN saw a 31% rise in Google Play downloads. The heightened demand propelled Proton VPN from 18th to 5th in Apple’s Utilities rankings and from 8th to 2nd in Google Play’s Tools category within a mere two days.
The impact extended beyond mere downloads. Proton reported a 120% increase in daily registrations from India above baseline levels, with hourly registrations spiking by 150% immediately following the restriction. Canadian provider Windscribe echoed this trend, noting sign-ups approximately 100% above baseline and an 89% rise in first-time iOS app downloads in the country. Rebecca Rosenberg, Windscribe’s growth operations manager, highlighted this as a consistent pattern observed in regions imposing app bans, age restrictions, or other forms of internet access limitations. Sensor Tower further corroborated the trend, reporting a 10% day-over-day increase across the entire VPN app category in India on June 17, reversing a prior two-week decline.
Concurrently, users explored alternatives to Telegram. Appfigures data indicated a significant uptick in downloads for Signal, rising 72% on Apple’s App Store and a staggering 322% on Google Play. Viber also saw a 216% increase in App Store downloads. Notably, iMe, an app linked to Telegram, experienced one of the most dramatic surges, with its Google Play downloads rocketing from a daily average of around 827 to 50,900 on June 16.
Intriguingly, the restriction did not immediately lead to a drop in Telegram’s active user base. Sensor Tower reported a 17% increase in Telegram’s daily active users in India on the day the ban was announced—the largest day-over-day surge since a widespread Meta services outage in 2021. This suggests a concerted effort by users to circumvent the block. Cloudflare Radar’s Lead, Lai Yi Ohlsen, speaking to Hustler Words, noted a sharp increase in DNS requests for Telegram domains in India post-ban, indicating repeated attempts to access the platform, even if not always successful.
The temporary ban, intended to curb the spread of fraudulent exam materials ahead of a re-test for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate), quickly became a legal battle. Telegram challenged the order in the Delhi High Court, asserting its cooperation with authorities by removing identified channels and questioning the necessity of a blanket ban affecting over 150 million Indian users. Government lawyers, led by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, defended the measure as a temporary, event-specific response with a "logical nexus" to preventing scams. The Delhi High Court, after hearing arguments, has reserved its verdict.
This scenario in India mirrors similar global events where governments restrict access to major online platforms. Sensor Tower observed a more than 40% week-over-week rise in VPN downloads in the U.S. when TikTok faced a brief removal from app stores in 2025. Windscribe has also noted comparable patterns following internet restrictions in countries like Iran and Russia, underscoring a universal user response to digital censorship.
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