Before the June 16 temporary blocking order against Telegram, the Centre had flagged to the platform that it had failed to upgrade its restricted search feature, The Indian Express has learnt.
As an example, the government said Telegram did not detect active channels even when users conducted a simple search using the term ‘NEET leaked paper’.
According to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Telegram has been telling the government for the past four years that it has been “working on” its search feature.
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But Telegram argued that, unlike algorithm-driven platforms — content-push platforms” — it does not actively recommend content to users and therefore limits the discoverability of material. The platform also maintained that “the outright blocking or banning of particular keywords or phrases does not appear to be an appropriate solution” for content moderation.
This was one of the key issues raised during a June 3 meeting, The Indian Express has learnt.
The meeting, convened by MeitY after summoning Telegram representatives, was held to discuss the “scale and nature of the fraud network identified on Telegram with respect to the recent NEET (UG) 2026 examination cycle”.
Search feature under scrutiny
As per minutes of the meeting, MeitY representatives said for the last four years, Telegram has been stating that their search feature is limited and that it is working on it.
“It was further conveyed that the issue concerning dissemination of illegal content is now out of proportion and that the government can take a strict measure against the platform, since Telegram has consistently failed to proactively take measures to control misuse of the platform.”
Telegram then sent a clarificatory email to MeitY on June 5. The platform explained that “search signals, keywords and other indicators form part of the overall moderation framework and are continuously used to identify and take action against unlawful content, including content relating to examination fraud and paper leak activities.”
It also explained that “outright blocking or banning of particular keywords or phrases does not appear to be an appropriate solution, as such terms may also be used in legitimate contexts, including by students, educational stakeholders, media organisations and news reporting relating to the issue.”
It explained in the email that lakhs of students use Telegram for legitimate, educational and constructive purposes, including study groups, academic discussions, dissemination of educational material and examination-related discussions. “… Accordingly, the mere presence of a particular keyword or phrase cannot, by itself, be treated as indicative of unlawful activity,” it wrote.
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The email further added, “Telegram is not a content-push platform and that its architecture inherently limits the discoverability and proliferation of content through search when compared to services that actively recommend, amplify or algorithmically push content to users.”
IMEI-level blocking
As per the minutes of the meeting, the government had also suggested IMEI-level blocking (the unique 15-digit number of every mobile).
However, in the June 5 email, Telegram clarified that it “does not utilise the suggested IMEI-based identifier as part of its enforcement architecture”.
“Telegram already undertakes proportionate enforcement measures using identifiers, signals and technical indicators available within its platform architecture, including account restrictions, channel and group restrictions, content removals and permanent bans of phone numbers where appropriate,” Telegram said in its email.
In the meeting, chaired by the MeitY’s joint secretary Ajit Kumar, Telegram, it is learnt, had admitted that the “‘anonymity’ concept was being misused by bad actors and it was difficult to proactively identify every such channel indulging in illegal acts including selling of leaked paper”.
It, however, had emphasised that the platform was “taking action for the last one and a half months and has been acting on every list of channels circulating the papers.”
No proactive steps taken: Govt; Telegram rebuts
According to the minutes of the meeting, the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the NEET exam, flagged that it “regularly informed and gave lists to Telegram about the operating channels,” which Telegram said it acted on.
With India being its biggest market, with over 150 million users, the minutes of the meeting record that Telegram has “modified their technical architecture exclusively for India”, adding that the platform is “enhancing its systems and taking action every day against lakhs of channels but illegal content continues to be hosted and disseminated.”
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But the government reportedly pointed to the lack of proactive measures by Telegram. Noting that while Telegram “took action post-facto”, the government also voiced that “proactive measures were not undertaken when the issue was at its peak and the platform was being regularly asked to undertake proactive measures.”
Telegram, in its June 5 email, replied that it has implemented “extensive proactive and reactive moderation measures and continues to invest significant resources towards detecting, removing, disrupting and deterring unlawful content and activity on the platform.”
In a June 2 email by Telegram to MeitY, preceding the meeting, the platform reiterated that for content moderation, it relies on a “robust combination of advanced AI/ML tools” operating at an accuracy level of 99.1%; “hash-based detection”, a tool for handling known and repeated violations, such as attempts to re-upload previously addressed occurrences of malicious activities; and “human moderation”.
The government had earlier acted against more than 3,000 Telegram channels carrying pirated content. (Representative Image) 
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