Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov on Wednesday alleged that Reliance may have been involved in efforts to ban the messaging platform in India and accused an affiliate of disrupting Telegram's internet access outside the country, claims that an industry source dismissed as "fake news" based on confusion between two separate Reliance group companies.
In a post on social media platform X, Durov alleged that Indian telecom operator Reliance was "sabotaging access" to Telegram for millions of users outside India, including in the United Arab Emirates, through a technique known as Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) hijacking.
"The sabotage seems intentional, as Reliance has ignored multiple reports.
This may be part of a competitive war, as Reliance is partially owned by Meta, the company behind WhatsApp," Durov wrote.
He further said he would not be surprised if "Reliance/WhatsApp" were behind lobbying efforts to ban Telegram in India.
