Signal has been the #1 app installed in Dutch app stores this past month. However, nobody is exactly sure why this is the case lately.
Of course, one reason could be recent distrust of American-centric platforms like the Meta-owned WhatsApp and their stance on consumer data protection.
Rejo Zenger, senior policy advisor at Dutch digital rights foundation Bits of Freedom, said that while it’s difficult to pinpoint one specific reason, he’s not surprised.
Recent developments in the U.S. have seen the big platform providers align with the new Trump administration, and this has stoked significant public and media debate. Europe’s reliance on technology from huge private U.S. companies has become a focal point in that debate.
“The Dutch are, just like many others, highly dependent on the infrastructure provided by extremely dominant tech companies, mostly from the U.S.,” Zenger told TechCrunch. “What this means, and the risks that come from this, have been nicely demonstrated in the past few weeks. As a result, the public debate in the Netherlands has been relatively sharp. Where in the past this problem was only discussed on the level of ‘which instant messenger should I use,’ I feel now we are having the debate on higher levels as well: ‘we should get rid of this dependency.’”
In that context, the public could be conflating dominance with data protection abuse. With companies like Meta regularly being investigated and fined over data privacy practices, Signal might appear the lesser evil: It’s based in the U.S., but operated by a nonprofit that ensures encryption of both message content and the metadata around it.
Additionally, broader political reasons could also explain this mass adoption of Signal. This time as a public backlash against Big Tech.
Vincent Böhre, director at Dutch privacy organization Privacy First, also pointed to increased media coverage and a broader shift in public opinion.
“Ever since Trump was re-elected in the U.S. a few months ago, there has been a lot of ‘bashing’ of Trump and [Elon] Musk in Dutch — and European — mainstream media, including bashing of American Big Tech companies, which now seem to be supportive of Trump,” Böhre told TechCrunch. “Articles criticizing X [formerly Twitter] and Meta have been popping up in Dutch media everywhere, leading to a shift in Dutch public opinion: even people who never really knew or cared about privacy and security in social media, have now suddenly become interested in ‘privacy-friendly’ alternatives, Signal in particular.”