The ministry has instructed Telegram to eliminate the allegedly infringing content, act promptly against the channels involved, and provide an Action Taken Report (ATR) within 15 days.
According to the ministry, this action is intended to protect India’s creator economy and defend the interests of filmmakers, OTT platforms, broadcasters, producers, and distributors from online piracy.
The notice follows complaints from OTT platforms and content owners that copyrighted films, web series, and other materials were being shared on Telegram without authorization. After reviewing the complaints, the ministry reported identifying 3,142 Telegram channels allegedly responsible for distributing pirated movies, web series, and other copyrighted content.
This notice has been issued under the Information Technology Act, 2000. The ministry stated that according to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, online intermediaries must remove unlawful content after receiving a valid government notice or court order.
Previously, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) sent notices to Telegram and Signal, requesting details about their username feature, including its functionality and measures in place to prevent impersonation, identity theft, and misuse. The Centre raised similar issues with WhatsApp regarding its planned username feature in India. According to Meta, usernames are optional identifiers starting with the ‘@’ symbol that enable users to communicate without disclosing their phone numbers.
The government has voiced concerns that this feature might facilitate cybercriminal activities, including online fraud, phishing scams, digital arrest scams, and impersonation attacks. It has also warned that usernames mimicking those of individuals, government agencies, or financial institutions could be exploited to mislead users.
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