After Telegram ban lift, authorities continue monitoring illegal content and cybercrime: Report
Follow UsTelegram ban has now been lifted in India.
The government is proactively monitoring groups on the platform over concerns related to illegal content and cybercrime.
The government is concerned that Telegram's privacy features can make it harder to identify people involved in illegal activities.
As the Telegram ban in India has now been lifted, the government is closely watching out activity on the messaging platform. According to a government report, reviewed by Reuters, the authorities are “proactively monitoring” groups on the platform over concerns related to illegal content and cybercrime. The 35-page report by the Home Ministry’s Cybercrime Coordination Centre was submitted in court as part of the government’s defence of a temporary one-week ban on Telegram. The ban was imposed after authorities found that cheating networks were using the platform to target candidates appearing for the NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination.
SurveyAccording to the report, the government is concerned that Telegram’s privacy features can make it harder to identify people involved in illegal activities. The platform allows users to communicate without sharing their phone numbers, which makes identity detection difficult.
The report said Telegram is being used by cybercriminals to operate through private groups and channels. “Cyber criminals use Telegram to access closed groups/channels … (India) is proactively monitoring such Telegram groups and channels,” the report reads.
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The government also highlighted a rise in cybercrime complaints linked to Telegram. It said a significant increase has been observed in complaints filed on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) involving the misuse of Telegram for online fraud.
Another major concern raised in the report is the sharing of child sexual abuse material on the platform. Telegram channels, groups and user accounts have been reported by citizens for online harassment and for distributing child sexual abuse content.
According to the report, 1,556 complaints related to Telegram were received between January and May this year.
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Following the recent ban, Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov publicly criticised the decision and made serious allegations against WhatsApp and Reliance Communications (RCom). In a post on X, Durov claimed RCom is sabotaging access to Telegram for users beyond India. According to him, the telecom operator was using a technique called BGP hijacking. Durov was talking about RCom not Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL).
