How Telegram became a refuge for WeChat users during the coronavirus outbreak
Telegram features like channel broadcasts and optional chat encryption have helped some people stay up to date amid heavy censorship on Tencent’s WeChat
Until recently, Xiang Bao never had any reason to try out Telegram. The app, known for its secure messaging features, is blocked in China. But Xiang decided to give Telegram a try while looking for information on a new coronavirus spreading through the country ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday in January.
During the early days of the Covid-19 crisis, Xiang became one of an increasing number of internet users in China using a VPN to climb the Great Firewall to get information about the deadly, rapidly spreading coronavirus on Telegram.
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“To some degree, it eased my anxiety about acquiring information,” said Xiang, a digital media professional based in Hangzhou, who asked to be identified by a pseudonym. “I obsessively checked coronavirus news during that time. It’s more intuitive and convenient to have a centralized broadcast platform.”
Xiang discovered and joined one channel called “2019-nCoV outbreak real-time broadcast,” which was also created in January. And she’s been checking the channel regularly since then, saying it gives updated information faster than other sources.
