Telegram challenges India app ban, calls move unconstitutional

The Telegram messaging app has challenged an Indian government order that temporarily blocked access to its platform to prevent exam fraud, claiming in a New Delhi court that the measure is unconstitutional and amounts to a disproportionate restriction on free speech.

The extraordinary order came into effect on Tuesday in an attempt to curb channels claiming to have obtained examination papers in advance, but has prompted a debate over the use of such blanket bans.

In its filing on Wednesday, Telegram argued the government’s action was “unconstitutional”, a “grossly disproportionate” measure and an “overbroad restriction on the fundamental right to freedom of speech of users”.

It warned that allowing the ban to remain in place would “enable indiscriminate suspension of digital platforms” and amount to a “blanket shutdown” of a service used by more than 150 million people in India.

The company also said the blocking order failed to consider that hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of students and educators rely on Telegram to access study materials and communicate with coaching institutions.

Activists have long argued that the legal provision used to impose such restrictions can be used to curb free speech, although Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government says it acts in accordance with the law and in the public interest.

Telegram founder Pavel Durov on Wednesday questioned the effectiveness of the ban in preventing exam leaks, saying it punished the platform’s 150 million Indian users rather than “the insiders who leaked the exam materials”.

Last month, the government cancelled a key undergraduate entrance examination for medical schools, known as the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), after authorities discovered that questions had been leaked in advance.

The leaks triggered student protests across the country and helped drive the emergence of the satirical “Cockroach Janta Party”, which called for the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Telegram has grown rapidly in India, which is now its largest market by downloads, although WhatsApp remains the country’s dominant messaging platform.