The Indian government has directed Telegram to take immediate action against the sharing of pirated movies and OTT content on its platform.
According to sources, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) has asked the messaging service to remove copyright-infringing content and submit a compliance report within 15 days.
The move is part of a broader effort to protect India’s growing creator economy, including filmmakers, broadcasters, OTT platforms, producers, distributors, and other content owners who continue to face financial losses due to digital piracy. Authorities believe that illegal sharing of movies and streaming content through messaging platforms has become a major challenge for the entertainment industry.
The latest order follows earlier action taken by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), which temporarily blocked Telegram in India until June 22 ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination. Officials said the decision was made to prevent organised cheating groups from using the platform to distribute leaked exam materials and coordinate fraudulent activities during the nationwide medical entrance examination.
The temporary suspension was later challenged in court, but the Delhi High Court upheld the government’s decision. The court ruled that the Centre had followed the legal process while using its emergency powers and found that the restrictions were proportionate to the public interest. Along with blocking Telegram until June 22, the government had also disabled the platform’s message-editing feature until June 30.
After the temporary restrictions ended, Telegram became available again on the Google Play Store for users in India.
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