India Temporarily Bans Telegram Over Exam Cheating
Friday, 2026/06/19166 words3 minutes889 reads
India has temporarily blocked the Telegram messaging app due to concerns about exam cheating. The ban comes just days before millions of students retake a crucial medical entrance examination.
The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG) will be held again on June 21 after the May exam was cancelled following allegations of a paper leak. Nearly 2.28 million candidates had taken the original test at over 5,000 centers across India.
The National Testing Agency welcomed the ban, stating that Telegram was being used by "cheating rackets" to defraud candidates. Authorities claim that operators of several channels demanded hundreds of thousands of rupees from students in exchange for supposed access to exam papers.
However, internet rights activists have criticized the move as a "band-aid solution." The Internet Freedom Foundation argues that the ban punishes ordinary users and doesn't address the real source of exam leaks within the education system. The ban will remain until June 22, causing inconvenience to many Indians who use Telegram for legitimate purposes.
