play Live Sign upShow navigation menuplay Live Click here to searchsearchSign upNews|Social MediaIndia blocks Telegram until Monday due to student exam fraud concernsA viral youth satirical protest movement, the Cockroach Janta Party, has emerged following exam cancellations last month.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogleAdd Al Jazeera on GoogleinfoTelegram has become one of the most used social media apps in India for young people although WhatsApp remains the main messaging platform [File: Getty]By Al Jazeera Staff and ReutersPublished On 16 Jun 202616 Jun 2026India has blocked the Telegram messaging app until Monday and ordered the platform to disable the editing feature on messages already posted, saying the platform has been used to “defraud candidates” and for “paper leaks” regarding upcoming national student examinations.
The restriction was issued on Tuesday under a stringent provision of the IT law, which empowers the government to block access to online sites in the interest of India’s “sovereignty and integrity”.
Activists said the provision is used to curb free speech although Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government said it acts in compliance with the law and in the public interest.
Last month, the government cancelled a key undergraduate entrance exam for medical schools known as the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) after authorities discovered the questions had been leaked beforehand.
The leaks led to a series of student protests across the country, including the emergence of a satirical viral movement, the Cockroach Janta Party, that demanded the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
The government has scheduled a new examination for Sunday.
The restrictions on Telegram were imposed “in response to the organised use of the platform by cheating rackets to defraud candidates appearing for the NEET 2026 re-examination scheduled on 21 June 2026”, the Ministry of Education’s National Testing Agency said in a statement.
Telegram has grown rapidly in India, and the country is its biggest market for downloads although WhatsApp remains the dominant messaging platform.
The government said it “regrets the inconvenience caused” due to the blocking of the application, which will affect hundreds of thousands of people, but it said it is a measure of “last resort” as earlier attempts to take down content from the platform had not produced results.
