India temporarily bans Telegram over exam paper leak scandals

In the wake of allegations of question paper leak and cheating in India's National Medical Entrance Exam (NEET), the country has temporarily banned the Telegram messaging app. This is the first such ban on a major messaging platform in India's history.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) under the Ministry of Education of India said that organized groups participating in the NEET-2026 re-examination to be held on June 21 were using Telegram to cheat students on Tuesday. That is why the temporary ban on the app has been imposed, which will be effective until June 22.

Last month, there were allegations of question paper leak in the NEET undergraduate exam held for admission to medical colleges. The government canceled the exam for the sake of investigation and the results of about 2.3 million students were also canceled. The government claims that some channels on Telegram were offering to sell the exam question papers, although the names of the channels concerned were not disclosed.

Protests broke out across the country over the incident. Students and parents held protest programs in various places. The 'Kakroch Janata Party', which has been discussed on social media, also joined the movement demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

The Indian government has imposed this ban on Telegram using a section of the Information Technology Act. The act gives the government the power to block access to online platforms in the 'interests of sovereignty and integrity' of the country.

However, digital rights activists have criticized the decision. The Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) said in a statement that blocking Telegram is not a permanent solution to the problem and is an insufficient and inconsistent step against exam cheating. According to the organization, the ban will make ordinary users suffer instead of the real criminals and will not eliminate the root cause of question leaks.

Meanwhile, the government said that this decision was taken as a last resort after previous measures to stop the spread of fraudulent content through Telegram were not effective and expressed regret for the inconvenience caused to ordinary users.