India has temporarily blocked Telegram nationwide until June 22 after authorities said fraud groups were using the messaging platform to target students before a major medical entrance examination. The restriction covers the June 21 re-test of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for undergraduate medical programs, known as NEET (UG).
The government has also ordered Telegram to disable its message-editing function until June 30. Officials said fraudsters had used the feature to alter older messages and create false evidence that they had obtained examination papers before a test.
Authorities Target Exam Fraud Channels
The National Testing Agency, which administers NEET, said the restrictions were introduced to protect candidates from organized cheating groups. These groups allegedly used Telegram channels to advertise fake examination papers and spread misleading claims about leaks.
India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology issued the blocking order under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act. The NTA explained the reasons for the restriction in an official statement.
The agency acknowledged that the temporary block would affect people who use Telegram for legitimate personal, educational, and professional purposes. However, NTA Director General Abhishek Singh said reducing access would limit the number of students that fraudulent channels could reach, even if their operators continued using VPNs or managed the channels from outside India.
The re-test follows a paper-leak scandal involving the original NEET examination. Authorities cancelled the results affecting about 2.3 million candidates and opened a federal investigation into the alleged leak.
Telegram and Rights Group Criticize Restrictions
Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov said the measure punished more than 150 million users in India instead of the people responsible for leaking examination materials. He also said the suspected leaks had moved to other messaging services after the restriction began.
Durov said Telegram had removed hundreds of channels associated with examination scams and leaked materials during recent weeks. The company also made labels on edited messages more visible to reduce attempts to alter old posts and present them as earlier predictions.
The Internet Freedom Foundation called the nationwide restriction disproportionate and questioned whether the government should block an entire platform instead of targeting individual channels. It also asked authorities to provide greater transparency about the legal basis and necessity of the order.
India is Telegram’s largest market, with an estimated 354 million monthly active users and almost 600 million downloads since its launch, according to Sensor Tower. Telegram remained accessible to some users after the announcement, while Google removed the app from its Indian Play Store.
Featured image credits: Yuri Samoilov via Flickr
For more stories like it, click the +Follow button at the top of this page to follow us.