The Centre has issued a notice to messaging platform Telegram, directing it to crack down on the widespread circulation of pirated films and OTT content and submit a compliance report within 15 days.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has asked Telegram to strengthen its mechanisms for detecting, reporting, disabling access to, and removing pirated films and other copyright-infringing audio-visual content shared on the platform.
According to the ministry, the move is aimed at safeguarding India's creator economy, including the interests of the film industry, broadcasters, OTT platforms, producers, and distributors.
The notice, issued under the Information Technology Act, 2000, follows multiple complaints from content owners and OTT platforms alleging the widespread unauthorised sharing of films and web series on the messaging platform.
According to PTI, the ministry is learnt to have told Telegram that copyright infringement is not merely a civil violation, but also a criminal offence under the Copyright Act, 1957, and the Cinematograph Act, 1952.
"The ministry has made it clear that Telegram cannot merely wait for the government to identify each piracy channel one by one. A purely reactive, channel-by-channel takedown approach may not be enough to demonstrate due diligence by the platform, as required under the IT Act, 2000, and the IT Rules, 2021," officials were quoted as saying.
The ministry has reportedly identified 3,142 Telegram channels allegedly involved in the distribution of pirated and copyrighted content.
Telegram was temporarily blocked in India in June as a precautionary measure to prevent any potential paper leaks during the NEET re-examination.
Separately, on Wednesday, MeitY issued a notice to Meta seeking clarification over WhatsApp's proposed username feature. The ministry also summoned the company over Instagram advertisements allegedly promoting child sexual abuse material.
