A week after the Central government imposed a temporary ban on the messaging platform Telegram, the application on Tuesday became operational for some existing users; however, it remains delisted on app stores.
Telegram Still Not Working In India Even After Ban Ended?| NEET Re-Exam| Paper Leak Fraud
A week after the Central government imposed a temporary ban on the messaging platform Telegram to prevent a paper leak of the NEET-UG re-examination, the application on Tuesday became operational for some existing users; however, it remains delisted on app stores.
While Google has restored the application on the Play Store, it continues to be unavailable from Apple’s App Store. In the meantime, some Apple users can use Telegram; others, however, complain that they are still unable to access their messages.
The development comes a week after the Centre imposed a temporary ban on the messaging platform and cited its exploitation by organised cheating networks. The app was banned ahead of the NEET-UG re-examination, which took place on 21 June. The ban, according to the government, is a measure of last resort.
Why did Centre ban Telegram temporarily?
The ban was reportedly ordered after the messaging platform failed to prevent the circulation of fake examination papers of NEET, which was conducted on 3 May and was later cancelled on 12 May. According to the Centre’s ban, the messaging platform was also involved in the dissemination of misleading information and other fraudulent activities that impacted the examination process, news agency PTI reported.
Before announcing the ban, government officials met Telegram representatives on 3 June, where these concerns were flagged. Following the meeting, the app and its associated web links, including the web version, were blocked for users across the country till 22 June.
The messaging platform has also been directed to block its message editing feature till 30 June.
30 arrested for attempting irregularities in Bihar
The NEET-UG re-examination was conducted on 21 June, and according to PTI, there has been no report of fraudulent activity so far. However, in a report published on Monday, PTI noted that Bihar police arrested at least 30 individuals for allegedly attempting irregularities in the NEET-UG re-examination in the state.
While 18 people working in the exam centres were arrested for violating the biometric verification norms, the majority of the others were impersonators who tried to write the exam in place of the genuine candidates.
Telegram CEO slammed temporary ban
Telegram Founder and CEO Pavel Durov criticised the IT ministry for banning Telegram for a week because some users shared leaked exam questions. He alleged that Reliance, in which Meta has a partial stake, may have lobbied, along with its competitor WhatsApp, to impose the ban on the company’s app in the country.
n a post on X, Durov said that the decision punishes over 150 million users in the country, and not the “insiders” who leaked the exam materials. He added, “And the ban hasn’t stopped anything. The leaks just moved to other apps. Over the past few weeks, we removed hundreds of channels sharing leaked exam materials and related scams in India. We’re also making the ‘edited’ label more visible to prevent backdating scams. Telegram is a force for good. Banning it — even temporarily — is a mistake.”
The messaging platform also moved the Delhi High Court last week, which was rejected later in the week. The matter was listed before the bench of Justice Tejas Karia, who ruled that the government’s actions, aimed at preserving the integrity of a key exam for admissions to medical colleges, were legal and reasonable.
Karia said that the government is “empowered … to issue directions for blocking the public access to Telegram.”
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