Telegram app restricted in India at NTA request until June 22

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| Photo Credit: Reuters

At the National Testing Agency (NTA)’s request, the Union government is blocking the messaging app Telegram in India for a week until Monday (June 22, 2026), following what the NTA described as a “response to the organised use of the platform by cheating rackets to defraud candidates appearing for the NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination scheduled on 21 June 2026.” This is the first time that a messaging app operating at such a scale is being blocked in India by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, even for a limited period.There are several Telegram groups circulating everything from pirated links to real time news updates from established organisations; the platform has attracted many users with features not typically found on WhatsApp and Signal, such as integrating bots into the platform.A Telegram spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. While Telegram has taken down groups and content in group chats — which are not end-to-end encrypted on the platform