Telegram has been blocked by Indian authorities until the 22nd after the platform was used by an organised syndicate to distribute leaked National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) exam questions. NEET is a university entrance exam for medical and dental students. Last month, the government cancelled the results of 2.3 million students after allegations of leaked exam questions emerged.
The exam will be held again on June 21 and the ban on Telegram is a measure to prevent cheating from happening again. In addition to the app being blocked, India has asked Telegram to block its message editing feature for local users until June 22. Google and Apple have been ordered to temporarily remove the app from the Play Store and App Store.
The ban has been criticised by the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) as it is legally invalid and will affect students who rely on Telegram to study and get revision materials ahead of exams.
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov said the ban only punished over 150 million ordinary users in India while those who leaked exam questions remained free and moved to other platforms.
