Telegram restored in India, but message-editing feature to remain disabled till June 30
Telegram was blocked until June 22 as a precautionary measure ahead of the NEET-UG re-examination
The Indian government has lifted its temporary ban on the instant messaging platform Telegram, which was imposed until June 22 as a precautionary measure against question paper leaks related to the NEET-UG re-examination, though its message-editing feature will remain disabled until June 30; preliminary investigations indicated that cheating syndicates had systematically used the platform for fraudulent activities, leading to the cancellation of the original May 3 examination, and the Delhi High Court upheld the government's decision, citing Telegram's capacity for "automated dissemination" of large content volumes and referencing Section 69A of the Information Technology Act which empowers the government to block online access for national security and public order reasons, with authorities highlighting Telegram's cloud-based architecture, extensive bot ecosystem, and username-based communication as factors contributing to its susceptibility to misuse for spreading misinformation and illicit content.
The Indian government has lifted its temporary ban on the instant messaging platform Telegram, which was imposed until June 22 as a precautionary measure against question paper leaks related to the NEET-UG re-examination, though its message-editing feature will remain disabled until June 30; preliminary investigations indicated that cheating syndicates had systematically used the platform for fraudulent activities, leading to the cancellation of the original May 3 examination, and the Delhi High Court upheld the government's decision, citing Telegram's capacity for "automated dissemination" of large content volumes and referencing Section 69A of the Information Technology Act which empowers the government to block online access for national security and public order reasons, with authorities highlighting Telegram's cloud-based architecture, extensive bot ecosystem, and username-based communication as factors contributing to its susceptibility to misuse for spreading misinformation and illicit content.
The Indian government has lifted its temporary ban on the instant messaging platform Telegram, which was imposed until June 22 as a precautionary measure against question paper leaks related to the NEET-UG re-examination, though its message-editing feature will remain disabled until June 30; preliminary investigations indicated that cheating syndicates had systematically used the platform for fraudulent activities, leading to the cancellation of the original May 3 examination, and the Delhi High Court upheld the government's decision, citing Telegram's capacity for "automated dissemination" of large content volumes and referencing Section 69A of the Information Technology Act which empowers the government to block online access for national security and public order reasons, with authorities highlighting Telegram's cloud-based architecture, extensive bot ecosystem, and username-based communication as factors contributing to its susceptibility to misuse for spreading misinformation and illicit content.
The Centre has lifted the temporary ban on the instant messaging platform Telegram soon, although its message-editing feature is expected to remain disabled for a few more days.
Telegram was blocked until June 22 as a precautionary measure ahead of the NEET-UG re-examination amid concerns over question paper leaks.
Preliminary investigations into the alleged irregularities that led to the cancellation of the examination held on May 3 had revealed the organised use of the platform by cheating syndicates to defraud candidates.
According to reports, Telegram services have been restored from June 23. However, the government's restriction on the platform's message-editing feature is expected to remain in force until June 30.
On Friday, the Delhi High Court upheld the government's decision to temporarily restrict access to Telegram ahead of the examination, observing that the measure was not disproportionate given the platform's ability to facilitate the "automated dissemination" of large volumes of content.
The court referred to Section 69A of the Information Technology Act and noted that the government is empowered to block public access to online information under specified circumstances.
Section 69A authorises the Central government to block public access to information generated, transmitted, received or stored in any computer resource if such action is considered necessary in the interests of India's sovereignty and integrity, defence, security, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, or for preventing incitement to the commission of a cognisable offence.
The Centre informed the court that Telegram had been misused to disseminate examination-related misinformation, circulate purported question papers and facilitate other fraudulent and unlawful activities that could have serious implications for public order.
The government further argued that Telegram's cloud-based architecture enables the storage and retrieval of large volumes of content, making it particularly susceptible to misuse.
Authorities also highlighted the platform's extensive bot ecosystem, which allows the automated dissemination of content without human intervention. Additionally, Telegram's use of usernames instead of phone numbers can help conceal user identities and enable the rapid spread of content, including material that may be illicit in nature.