India's ban of Telegram over NEET leak sparks VPN surge
Technology
After India banned Telegram from June 16-22 due to the NEET paper leak, people rushed online looking for ways around it.
Google Trends shows "VPN for Telegram" searches shot up from 0 to nearly maxed out in just one day.
Clearly, a lot of folks weren't ready to give up on the app so easily.
About 45% of Indians use Telegram
Telegram isn't just another chat app in India: it's huge, with about 45% of the population using it (way more than Brazil or Mexico).
The ban highlights how deeply Telegram is woven into daily life here, and how quick users are to find workarounds when their go-to platform goes offline.