{"id":7337,"date":"2026-06-17T16:35:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T16:35:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/06\/17\/telegram-challenges-india-app-ban-calls-move-unconstitutional\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T16:35:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T16:35:20","slug":"telegram-challenges-india-app-ban-calls-move-unconstitutional","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/06\/17\/telegram-challenges-india-app-ban-calls-move-unconstitutional\/","title":{"rendered":"Telegram challenges India app ban, calls move unconstitutional"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><em>India blocked Telegram after exam paper leaks, prompting the legal challenge.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>The Telegram messaging app has challenged an <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/6\/16\/india-blocks-telegram-until-monday-due-to-student-exam-fraud-concerns\">Indian government order<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 4 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/video\/newsfeed\/2026\/6\/17\/israeli-settlers-set-fire-to-a-mosque-in-the-occupied-west-bank\">Israeli settlers set fire to a mosque in the occupied West Bank<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/features\/2026\/6\/17\/strait-of-hormuz-reopens-how-will-safe-passage-for-ships-be-ensured\">Strait of Hormuz reopens: But can ships\u2019 safety be assured?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/video\/newsfeed\/2026\/6\/17\/russian-artist-and-outspoken-putin-critic-shot-dead-days-after-protest\">Russian artist and outspoken Putin critic shot dead days after protest<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 4 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/podcasts\/2026\/6\/17\/the-take-why-israel-could-still-derail-the-iran-us-deal\">The Take: Why Israel could still derail the Iran-US deal<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>In its filing on Wednesday, Telegram argued the government\u2019s action was \u201cunconstitutional\u201d, a \u201cgrossly disproportionate\u201d measure and an \u201coverbroad restriction on the fundamental right to freedom of speech of users\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>It warned that allowing the ban to remain in place would \u201cenable indiscriminate suspension of digital platforms\u201d and amount to a \u201cblanket shutdown\u201d of a service used by more than 150 million people in India.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019s government says it acts in accordance with the law and in the public interest.<\/p>\n<p>Telegram founder Pavel Durov on Wednesday questioned the effectiveness of the ban in preventing exam leaks, saying it punished the platform\u2019s 150 million Indian users rather than \u201cthe insiders who leaked the exam materials\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>The leaks triggered student protests across the country and helped drive the emergence of the satirical \u201cCockroach Janta Party\u201d, which called for the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.<\/p>\n<p>Telegram has grown rapidly in India, which is now its largest market by downloads, although WhatsApp remains the country\u2019s dominant messaging platform.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>India blocked Telegram after exam paper leaks, prompting the legal challenge. 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 &#8230; <a title=\"Telegram challenges India app ban, calls move unconstitutional\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/06\/17\/telegram-challenges-india-app-ban-calls-move-unconstitutional\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Telegram challenges India app ban, calls move unconstitutional\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7338,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}