The Indian government has issued a stern warning to the messaging platform Telegram, demanding that it proactively curb the sharing of pirated content on its platform or face legal consequences. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology conveyed this message in a recent communication to the company, according to officials familiar with the matter.
Government's directive to Telegram
In its directive, the Ministry emphasized that Telegram cannot adopt a passive approach by waiting for the government to identify and report each piracy channel individually. "The Ministry has made it clear that Telegram cannot merely wait for the government to identify each piracy channel one by one," officials said. The platform is expected to take preemptive measures to detect and remove infringing content.
Legal framework and consequences
The warning is based on India's information technology laws, which mandate that intermediaries must remove unlawful content upon receiving actual knowledge from a government agency or court order. However, the Ministry is now pushing for a more proactive stance, arguing that Telegram's current compliance is insufficient. Failure to comply could result in legal action, including the potential loss of safe harbor protections under Section 79 of the IT Act, which shields intermediaries from liability for user-generated content if they follow due diligence.
Impact on Telegram's operations
Telegram, which has over 500 million monthly active users globally, including a significant base in India, has been under scrutiny for hosting channels that distribute pirated movies, TV shows, and other copyrighted material. The government's move could force the platform to implement stricter content moderation mechanisms, such as automated filters or increased manual review, to prevent piracy.
Officials noted that the Ministry has already identified numerous channels dedicated to piracy and has shared this information with Telegram. However, the government expects the company to do more without waiting for individual complaints. The warning comes amid a broader crackdown on digital piracy in India, which costs the entertainment industry billions of rupees annually.
