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Telegram comes under the scanner in India for extortion and gambling – will it be banned in India?

Telegram comes under the scanner in India for extortion and gambling – will it be banned in India?
Tech1 min read
  • Telegram has come under the scanner of the Indian government for gambling and extortion.
  • The messaging app is being investigated over its alleged misuse in criminal activities.
  • Telegram founder Pavel Durov was recently arrested in Paris by the French authorities.
Pavel Durov, the co-founder and the chief executive officer of popular messaging platform Telegram was arrested in Paris earlier this month. The app has now come under the scanner in India.

According to a report by Moneycontrol, Telegram is being investigated by the government over its alleged misuse in criminal activities such as gambling and extortion. The ongoing investigation could also end up with Telegram being banned in India as per a government official.

"The Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) and MeitY have been looking into P2P communications on Telegram," said a government official to Moneycontrol.


According to the report, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is investigating criminal activities such as extortion and gambling on the platform.

Why has Telegram come under the scanner now?

While Telegram has been blamed for such activities in the past, the investigation might have gained steam as the UGC-NET exam paper was reportedly being sold on Telegram for ₹5,000 to ₹10,000 after being leaked.

Durov, 39, was detained by the French authorities at the Bourget Airport. Durov was wanted under a French arrest warrant due to the lack of moderation on Telegram, which allegedly led to the platform being used for money laundering, drug trafficking and sharing pedophilic content.

The arrest was criticised by several people, including Tesla cofounder Elon Musk.

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