New Delhi: The Central government has issued a notice to Telegram over the alleged large scale circulation of pirated films, web series and other copyrighted content on the platform, directing it to take immediate corrective measures and submit an Action Taken Report within 15 days.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said the move is intended to protect India’s creator economy and safeguard the interests of filmmakers, broadcasters, OTT platforms, producers and distributors from online piracy and copyright infringement.
Following complaints from content owners and streaming platforms, authorities examined the issue and identified 3,142 Telegram channels that were allegedly distributing copyrighted movies and digital content without authorisation. The government has instructed the platform to remove infringing material and strengthen its compliance mechanisms under existing intermediary regulations.
The notice was issued under the Information Technology Act, 2000, which requires online intermediaries to remove unlawful content upon receiving a valid government directive or court order. The action forms part of a wider anti piracy campaign aimed at protecting India’s entertainment industry from financial losses caused by unauthorised content sharing.
In a separate development, the government has expanded its scrutiny of the username feature introduced by messaging platforms. Notices have been sent to Telegram and Signal seeking details on how the feature operates and what safeguards are in place to prevent misuse.
The move follows similar concerns raised with WhatsApp regarding its proposed username rollout in India. Authorities fear that allowing users to communicate without revealing phone numbers could increase the risk of phishing attempts, impersonation, identity theft and other cybercrimes.
The government has warned that usernames resembling those of public institutions, financial organisations or individuals could potentially be exploited by fraudsters to deceive users and facilitate online scams.
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