India May Ban Telegram Amid Investigation Over Criminal Activities such as Gambling and Extortion

The Indian government is investigating Telegram following concerns that the app may be involved in criminal activities such as gambling and extortion, according to a Moneycontrol report.

A government official informed the media platform about the development and added that the messaging app faces the risk of getting banned on the basis of the findings of the investigations. 

The reports of the investigation emerged after the 39-year-old founder and chief executive officer of Telegram Pavel Durov was arrested in Paris on August 24 over the moderation policies of the application.  According to reports, he was detained by the police because he could not prevent criminal activities on the application.

“The Indian Cybercrime Co-ordination Centre (I4C) (under MHA) and MeitY have been looking into P2P communications on Telegram,” said a government official, while speaking to Moneycontrol.

According to the report, the investigation is being conducted by India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Ministry of Home Affairs which are looking into criminal activities like extortion and gambling.

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Telegram Faces Scrutiny in India Over UGC-NEET Paper Leak

In India, Telegram has more than 5 million registered users. The social media platform was in the news for becoming the place where the medical entrance exam papers were leaked and widely shared which led to the UGC-NEET controversy

The government authorities have found it challenging to investigate Telegram because it does not have operations in India.

Direct communication has always been hindered because of the absence of local offices, which has complicated the efforts to get user data.

“We will examine the kind of material that we get and based on our laws, we will come to a conclusion,” said the official, while speaking to Moneycontrol.

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CEO Pavel Durov Arrested in France

French authorities arrested Durov at Bourget airport outside Paris and he is being investigated for the lack of moderators on Telegram. 

As per the reports, because of this situation, criminal activities went on undeterred on the application. 

The company released a statement on August 26, in which it said, “Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe. Almost a billion users globally use Telegram as a means of communication and as a source of vital information. We’re awaiting a prompt resolution of this situation. Telegram is with you all… It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner is responsible for abuse of that platform.”

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