New Delhi: Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has criticized the Indian government’s decision to temporarily block the messaging platform ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination.
Arguing that the move penalizes millions of users while failing to address the source of exam paper leaks, so the government decide to temporary ban.
The temporary restriction was imposed following allegations that leaked NEET-UG examination questions were circulated through Telegram channels.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) acted on a recommendation from the National Testing Agency (NTA) and suspended access to Telegram in India until June 22.
The NEET-UG re-examination is scheduled to take place on June 21.
In a post on X, Durov said the ban unfairly impacts ordinary users rather than those responsible for leaking the examination material.
India’s IT ministry banned Telegram for one week because some users shared leaked exam questions.
— Pavel Durov (@durov) June 16, 2026
This punishes 150M+ ordinary Telegram users in India — not the insiders who leaked the exam materials.
And the ban hasn't stopped anything. The leaks just moved to other apps. https://t.co/CzQWN4mXfb
“India’s IT ministry banned Telegram for one week because some users shared leaked exam questions. This punishes 150 million+ ordinary Telegram users in India, not the insiders who leaked the exam materials. And the ban hasn’t stopped anything. The leaks have just moved to other apps,” Durov stated.
His remarks came amid growing criticism from digital rights advocates and civil society organizations over the government’s action.
The Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) also challenged the platform-wide restriction and questioned a separate directive requiring Telegram to disable its message-editing feature for Indian users until June 30.
According to the IFF, Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, empowers the government to block specific online content but does not authorize the shutdown of an entire intermediary platform.
The organization further also raised concerns about the legal basis for ordering Telegram to modify one of its core platform features.
The foundation argued that reports suggest the alleged examination paper leaks originated from within the examination system itself, making the platform ban ineffective in addressing the root cause of the issue.
Internet Freedom Foundation has urged the government to make public the MeitY order and the NTA recommendation that led to the restriction.
It has also sought clarification regarding the legal grounds for the directive on Telegram’s message-editing feature and the rationale behind imposing a platform-wide ban.
The controversy has sparked a wider debate over digital rights, intermediary liability, and the balance between preventing examination malpractice and protecting access to communication platforms used by millions of people across India.
Critics maintain that addressing the source of paper leaks would be more effective than restricting access to an entire messaging service.
While authorities argue that temporary measures are necessary to safeguard the integrity of the examination process.
