Telegram CEO accuses Reliance and WhatsApp as India’s temporary Telegram restriction faces challenge
The Facts
- Telegram CEO Pavel Durov alleged that Reliance and WhatsApp were involved in efforts to ban or restrict Telegram in India.
- Durov also alleged that Reliance disrupted access to Telegram for users outside India through Border Gateway Protocol, or BGP, hijacking.
- India temporarily restricted Telegram ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination, and reports say the government ordered the app to be delisted from Google Play and Apple’s App Store.
- The government’s stated reason for the temporary restriction was to curb exam-related cheating, paper leaks, fraud, or misinformation linked to the NEET-UG retest.
- Telegram challenged the temporary restriction in the Delhi High Court.
- Reliance Jio denied involvement in any BGP route misconfiguration or disruption of Telegram access.
- Some reports said Durov may have confused Reliance Communications with Reliance Industries’ telecom arm Jio, making the identity of the network operator at issue a central unresolved point.
How left and right are reading this
- Both agree
- A communications platform was temporarily restricted during a high-stakes exam controversy, and the official anti-cheating rationale did not settle the deeper dispute over how access was curtailed or who, if anyone beyond the government, helped disrupt it.
- They split on
- Less a disagreement than a question of emphasis: the vulnerability of platform access during a public controversy, versus the rule-of-law need to test a temporary restriction and disputed network-interference claims through court and verified attribution.
Analytical frames for this storyTap to explore
Context
Why did India temporarily restrict Telegram?
According to multiple reports, the restriction was imposed ahead of the NEET-UG re-examination because authorities said Telegram was being used for exam-related cheating, paper leaks, fraud, extortion, or misinformation tied to the test Times of India,Business Standard,PC Magazine.
What is BGP hijacking?
BGP hijacking refers to internet traffic being misdirected when a network falsely advertises routes to certain IP addresses or services, which can send users’ traffic to the wrong destination and disrupt access Indian Express,TimesNow,Business Standard.
What is disputed in Durov’s allegation?
The main dispute is who, if anyone, was responsible for the alleged routing problem. Reliance Jio says it was not involved in any such incident, while other reports say Durov may have mixed up Jio with Reliance Communications, a separate company Economic Times,cnbctv18.com,New Indian Express.
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Wire services (2)
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Independent coverage (50)
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