India's Telegram ban hit the UAE too. Here's how to get around it

India has banned Telegram until June 22 after the platform was used to sell access to leaked exam materials.

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov accuses Indian telecom Reliance of using BGP hijacking to enforce the block, disrupting access for users as far away as the UAE.

Digital rights group, the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) calls the ban a disproportionate, "constitutionally incompatible" response to exam fraud.

The ban, and the BGP routing fallout

On June 16, India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology invoked Section 69A of the IT Act to restrict access to Telegram nationwide until June 22, acting on a recommendation from the National Testing Agency (NTA). A separate order requires Telegram to disable its message-editing feature in India until June 30.