Published By: Sayan Paul

Telegram To Be Banned In India? Here Are Some Alternatives That You Can Use

Pavel Durov, Telegram founder and CEO, was arrested in Paris on August 24, 2024.

The popular messaging app Telegram is currently under scrutiny in India, over its potential usage in illegal activities including extortion and gambling. According to a report by Moneycontrol, the investigation is being carried out by the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Center (I4C) in collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). Depending on the findings, this could lead to a ban on the app in India.

Notably, this comes after Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in Paris on August 24 over concerns regarding the app’s moderation policies (especially its failure to prevent criminal activities on the platform). Also, just a few months ago, there were reports of UGC-NET leaked exam papers being sold on it for ₹5,000 to ₹10,000.

Pavel Durov

Well, Telegram is one of the most popular instant messaging apps in India with over five million registered users. If you are one of them, consider switching to any of the following alternatives in case it gets banned.

Brosix

Brosix ensures a secure and all-in-one team communication specifically designed for businesses. What sets this platform apart is it provides end-to-end encryption, protecting all files shared within the network from unauthorized access. Also, it has a completely private team network, peer-to-peer channels, chat room controls, chat history archives, screen-sharing capabilities, and anti-virus & malware integration among others.

Credit: Brosix

Moreover, there's an array of robust enterprise tools that focus on teamwork.

WhatsApp

WhatsApp has over 2 billion users globally. Precisely, this Meta-owned platform is more secure and user-friendly than Telegram. Here, you can chat one-on-one and in groups of up to 1,024 people. Also, you can make voice and video calls, and share large files. And unlike Telegram, it encrypts everything (from chats to calls to media and more) end-to-end.

However, it's important to note that Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, has come under probe multiple times over data privacy issues.

Signal

Developed by Moxie Marlinspike and Brian Acton, Signal is an open-source chat app, meaning its code is publicly available for review. Also, all calls, messages, and shared media here are end-to-end encrypted, making it a top choice for many. On the other hand, there are features like sealed sender, disappearing messages, and more. It supports multimedia, location sharing, and other features as well.

As far as security and functionality are concerned, Signal is a far better option than Telegram.

Mattermost

Mattermost is inarguably one of the most popular messaging platforms within the corporate world. Thanks to its secure messaging feature with end-to-end encryption, the app is ideal for team collaboration and communication within organizations. It supports cross-platform usage and also offers features like file sharing, threaded conversations, message search, and private chat rooms among others.

Credit: John Landells

Notably, Mattermost provides more privacy and security than many other apps available out there. It's highly customizable and can be entirely self-hosted.

Besides these platforms, the list also includes Messenger, Flock, Viber, and Circle among others.