‘Punishes 150M Users’: Telegram CEO Attacks India’s Temporary Ban Over NEET Paper Leak

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has criticised the Indian government's temporary restriction on Telegram ahead of the rescheduled NEET-UG examination, arguing that the move penalises millions of ordinary users without addressing the root cause of exam paper leaks. His remarks came as the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) also questioned the legal basis and effectiveness of the restrictions imposed on the messaging platform.

Durov Says Restriction Punishes Millions of Users

Speaking through a post on X, Durov reacted to an Internet Freedom Foundation statement and criticised the government's decision to restrict Telegram access in India for a week.

"India's IT ministry banned Telegram for one week because some users shared leaked exam questions. 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," he said.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) is scheduled to conduct the rescheduled NEET-UG examination on June 21.

Internet Freedom Foundation Questions Legal Basis

The Internet Freedom Foundation objected to the directions announced by the NTA concerning Telegram.

"On the NTA's recommendation, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has, under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, restricted access to the whole of Telegram in India until 22 June 2026, and has separately ordered the platform to switch off message-editing for every Indian user until 30 June 2026...," the organisation said in a press release.

The IFF argued that Section 69A and the Blocking Rules of 2009 permit the government to block access to specific information hosted on a platform, but not an entire intermediary service.

"They do not extend to switching off an entire intermediary, still less to ordering a company to redesign its product by removing a feature for a whole country...For the message-editing direction the release identifies no source of power at all. If one exists, the order must say so," the release stated.

IFF Calls Restriction Ineffective, Seeks Transparency

The organisation further argued that the move would hurt ordinary users rather than address the systemic issues behind exam paper leaks.

"This blocking comes in the final days of NEET preparation, when thousands of students depend on Telegram for study groups, doubt-clearing, and shared resources. Also, it is important to consider that the source of exam papers leak will occur from inside the system...," the release said.

According to the IFF, "switching off Telegram, is merely a deflection from the repeated failures that will continue while media attention is directed towards this Telegram ban".

The group urged the government to publish the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology's Section 69A order and the NTA's recommendation behind it, including the reasons for the action.

It also called on authorities to "state the legal basis for the message editing direction, or withdraw it", sought clarity on whether Telegram was granted a hearing under the Blocking Rules, and demanded that the "platform-wide restriction" be lifted.

(With inputs from ANI)