Telegram Ban

Telegram ban: Why the app is under scanner for paper leaks-Indian Express 

The Ministry of Electronics and IT has blocked the popular messaging platform Telegram in India until June 22 at the request of the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the NEET exam.

Reason Behind Blocking Telegram 

• The blocking order was issued under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
• Section 69A empowers the government to issue directions for blocking public access to digital information.
• Such blocking can be ordered when it is considered necessary or expedient in the interest of:
  • Sovereignty and integrity of India
  • Defence of India
  • Security of the State
  • Friendly relations with foreign States
  • Public order
  • Preventing incitement to any cognizable offence
• The government may record reasons in writing before issuing such directions.
• The government can direct any agency to intercept, monitor or decrypt information.
• This applies to information that is generated, transmitted, received or stored in any computer resource

Telegram’s USP 

• Founded in 2013 by Pavel Durov and his elder brother Nikolai Durov.Telegram positioned itself as a privacy-focused messaging platform.
• It supports syncing across multiple devices, making it convenient for users.Telegram is among the most popular personal messaging apps in India, with over 150 million users.
• In India, it is second only to Meta’s WhatsApp in popularity.
• Its strong privacy features have also raised concerns about misuse, including:
  • Scams
  • Child pornography circulation
  • Other illegal activities
  • Use of bots, channels and sticker sets for illegal content
• Telegram says it has a legitimate process to remove illegal public content from the app.
• Telegram also links restrictions to freedom of speech, stating that it does not support politically motivated censorship.
• The Indian government directed Telegram to disable its message-editing feature for already-posted messages until June 30.
• According to NTA, this editing feature allowed channel administrators to change earlier messages, including replacing attached files like PDFs, while retaining the original send-time stamp.

Rationale Behind the Ban

• NTA said Telegram channels were demanding money from candidates in exchange for alleged access to the NEET re-examination paper.
• Amounts ranged from a few thousand rupees to several lakhs, showing possible organised exam fraud.
• The ban targeted alleged paper-leak networks, not ordinary Telegram users.
• Durov also claimed the leaks shifted to other apps, so the ban did not stop the core problem.
• Ahmedabad Police arrested two Rajasthan men for allegedly defrauding NEET aspirants through Telegram.
• Police said the accused did not possess leaked documents, indicating a possible fake paper-leak racket.