Soon after the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) pulled up Meta — first over WhatsApp’s planned username rollout, then over Instagram ads accused of promoting child sexual abuse material — the government has turned its attention to Telegram, over rampant film and OTT piracy on the messaging app, according to official sources.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) on Saturday issued a formal notice directing Telegram to take immediate steps against the unchecked circulation of pirated movies and streaming content on its platform. The platform has been given 15 days to file a detailed Action Taken Report (ATR) outlining the corrective measures it has put in place.
Officials said the Telegram notice seeks to take down individual pirate channels alongside holding platforms themselves accountable for systemic failures. Telegram has also been instructed that it can attract criminal liability under the Copyright Act, 1957, and the Cinematograph Act, 1952.
Escalating Regulatory Pressures
This makes a fresh regulatory push against the messaging platform already in brush with the regulators this year — the app faced a temporary block in June linked to concerns around leaked NEET exam papers.
Taken together with the Meta notices earlier in the week, the Telegram order signals that the government is stepping up scrutiny of messaging and social platforms on multiple fronts at once — including child safety and impersonation risks alongside protecting the creative and entertainment industries from revenue losses due to digital piracy.
Structural Flaws
Telegram, in particular, has drawn criticism for its channel-based architecture, which allows pirated files to be shared with thousands of subscribers almost instantly and makes conventional takedown requests more cumbersome.
The amendments made to the IT Rules in late 2025 has sharpened intermediaries’ due-diligence obligations and gave authorities clearer power to demand structural fixes rather than one-off removals.
Meanwhile, Telegram’s troubles aren’t confined to India. The platform is facing separate legal scrutiny in around a dozen more countries including a Russian probe into allegations that Telegram was being used to promote extremist content.