Telegram Blocked in India: 150 Million Users Left Without Connection

The Indian government has imposed a temporary ban on the Telegram messenger as part of a crackdown on exam fraud. The New Delhi High Court rejected the platform's appeal against this restriction. As a result, over 150 million users in one of the world's largest markets have been deprived of access to the popular service. This is reported by Ixbt.com news reports.

This drastic measure was triggered by national entrance exams for medical universities in the country. Previously, exam results had been canceled due to allegations of leaked questions. Following concerns that certain channels on the messenger were selling upcoming exam questions, the Indian Ministry of Information Technology decided to implement the block until June 22.

Court Decision and Response from Tech Giants

According to ixbt.com, Judge Tejas Karia found the government's decision legal and fully compliant with established regulations. Within hours of the ban's announcement, local telecommunications companies, as well as giants like Google and Apple, removed the Telegram app from their stores and restricted access.

Telegram founder Pavel Durov sharply criticized the situation. According to him, such measures are equivalent to punishing millions of innocent users. Durov emphasized that the problem of leaking exam materials had already migrated to other platforms, and blocking a single service would not solve the issue.

The situation grew more complex when the effect of the block spread beyond the country's borders due to BGP hijacking used by India's Reliance telecommunications company. Consequently, millions of users in the UAE and other neighboring regions also experienced difficulties accessing the messenger.

Telegram administration expressed its readiness to cooperate with the government and announced that it had deleted over 900 links distributing illegal content related to the exams. Despite this, official Delhi does not intend to ease the restrictions until the exam processes are fully completed.

This incident serves as further evidence of states increasing their control over digital platforms in the global tech world. Considering that Telegram is also the primary communication tool for users in Uzbekistan, such blocks in major markets could significantly impact the platform's overall stability and international policy.