"Telegram, an encrypted messaging app, has outpaced WhatsApp, Twitter and other messaging services to replace 8chan as the go-to online gathering place for religious and right-wing extremists, according to one expert from the Counter Extremism Project. Researcher Joshua Fischer-Birch told The Hill on Wednesday that Telegram's 65 publicly visible white extremist channels have experienced a surge in users over the past month, with each channel welcoming hundreds of new members. On average, each channel grew by 256 members, or 43 percent. According to a 2017 report by the Counter Extremism Project, Telegram knowingly allowed ISIS and other terrorist and religious extremist groups to use its messaging platform despite growing evidence of its role in numerous terrorist attacks."