June 18, 2026
India's temporary block on the Telegram messaging app to prevent exam fraud undermines constitutional protections and the free speech rights of its users, and must be quashed, according to the company's filing to a New Delhi court seen by Reuters.
The extraordinary order blocking the app until Jun 22 came into effect on Tuesday in an attempt to curb channels claiming to have the exam paper for a repeat of a national medical entrance test in advance. The test was also hit last month by allegations of leaked papers that led to it being cancelled after millions had already sat the exam.
"Such an approach, if upheld, would enable indiscriminate suspension of digital platforms, severely undermining constitutional protections of free speech and access to information," Telegram said in its nearly 200-page court filing to the Delhi High Court, which has not been made public.
The order has been issued "on the impermissible premise that misuse by a subset of users justifies blocking of an entire platform", it added.
