India blocked the messaging app Telegram. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File India temporarily blocked the messaging app Telegram, claiming it was used in an attempt to defraud candidates for a national medical school entrance exam. The test had already been the target of allegations of question leaks last month, which led to the cancellation of millions of results. The ban, unprecedented in the country, was adopted “in response to the organized use of the platform by fraud networks to deceive candidates who will participate in the re-application of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) 2026, scheduled for June 21, 2026,” the National Testing Agency of India's Ministry of Education reported this Tuesday (16). The measure will remain in effect until June 22. Last month, the Indian government canceled the medical school entrance exam after authorities stated they were investigating reports of the questions being leaked. Now on g1 According to the government, channels hosted on the platform — whose names were not disclosed — were advertising the sale of early access to the test content. After the suspicions of leaks and the cancellation of the results of 2.3 million students, protests occurred in several regions of India.
Among them, demonstrations led by the viral Cockroach Janta Party, which demanded the resignation of the Minister of Education, Dharmendra Pradhan. Indian law allows blocking of sites and apps The restriction on Telegram was determined based on a provision of India's information technology legislation that allows the government to block access to websites and online platforms in defense of the “sovereignty and integrity of India”. A digital rights advocacy group stated that the measure represents a violation of freedom of expression and will not solve the problem. “Shutting down Telegram is a stopgap solution and a disproportionate response to exam fraud,” declared the Internet Freedom Foundation. The organization also stated that the measure “will punish ordinary users instead of attacking the systemic origin of the test leaks”. In a statement released this Tuesday, the government regretted the inconvenience caused and stated that the suspension was adopted as a “last resort”, after previous attempts to remove this type of content from the platform had not been effective. Telegram did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Operators Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea also did not immediately respond to questions about receiving and implementing the blocking order. According to sources with direct knowledge of the matter, Alphabet, Google's parent company, and Apple received a determination from the government to temporarily remove Telegram from their app stores and are expected to comply with the order.
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