: Telegram Messenger Inc. CEO Pavel Durov has expressed dissatisfaction with the Indian government’s one-week ban on the messaging app, imposed to curb its alleged “organised use by cheating rackets” seeking to defraud candidates during the NEET re-examination.
He argued that the ban unfairly impacts over 150 million regular users of Telegram instead of punishing the insider who leaked the exam materials. He also said that the ban has not stopped anything, as the leaks simply shifted to other apps.
In a post on X, Telegram Messenger sharply criticised the ban, likening it to shutting down malls to prevent theft or closing roads because a driver was speeding up. "You should also shut down all the shopping malls since there might be a theft in one of them. And close the roads because I heard someone was speeding," it said.
ఇవి కూడా చదవండి
The argument resonates with the statement issued by Internet Freedom Foundation (IIF), which called the Telegram ban a band-aid solution and said that it is a disproportionate answer to exam fraud.
One user, however, called out the analogy, arguing that while malls do not let known thieves operate openly, Telegram fails to timely stop public scams, leaks, and hate channels on its platform. Replying to the post, Telegram Messenger presented a counter and highlighted CEO Durov's message about the platform's active approach to stop misuse:
"We've done a lot to help fix the problem — even though its source is not Telegram. Over the past few weeks, we removed hundreds of channels sharing leaked exam materials and related scams in India."
The messaging application further added that malls stop crimes when they are aware, so does Telegram. "No matter how actively anyone polices, misuse happens," it said.
