The Indian government is reportedly investigating the short messaging platform Telegram over concerns of criminal activities such as extortion and gambling.
The messaging app could even be banned depending on the probe’s findings, Moneycontrol reported, citing an unnamed government official.
Telegram founder Pavel Durov arrested
The move comes as Telegram’s 39-year-old founder and chief executive officer Pavel Durov was arrested in Paris on August 24 over the app’s moderation policies.
Reports said he was detained for failing to prevent criminal activities on the app.
The Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) (under MHA) and MeitY have been looking into P2P communications on Telegram,” a government official told Moneycontrol on Sunday, August 25, on condition of anonymity.
The probe, being conducted by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), was specifically looking into criminal activities such as extortion and gambling, the official said.
The official did not rule out the platform, which has more than 5 million registered users in India, being blocked, but said the decision would be based on what the probe throws up.
Moneycontrol said it has reached out to Telegram for comments.
In recent years, Telegram and some other social media platforms reportedly have emerged as breeding grounds for criminal activities, including scams that have cost citizens crores of rupees.
The platform was in the news recently over the UGC-NEET controversy in India, which led to student protests and forced the Supreme Court to intervene.
The question paper for the medical entrance exam was leaked and was allegedly widely shared on the short messaging platform, which is an encrypted messaging app.
Follow us on
