Knowledge Nugget | Telegram app Banned in India: How Government can block apps and social media platforms?

In this context, let’s understand how the government can block apps. How is social media regulated in India?

Key Takeaways:

1. Telegram is among the most popular personal messaging applications in the country, with an estimated 150 million users, behind only Meta’s WhatsApp, which has over 500 million users.

2. The MeitY carried out the action under Section 69A of the IT Act at the behest of the National Testing Agency. It also directed the company to disable, in India, its message-editing feature in respect of messages already posted on the platform until June 30, to address “the specific structural feature through which the platform has been used to fabricate after-the-event ‘paper leak’ evidence in respect of national examinations”.

3. On why action was necessitated against only Telegram, NTA Director General Abhishek Singh told The Indian Express that the platform was not taking any “proactive action” to deal with channels claiming to provide access to the question paper.

But how is social media regulated in India?

The government has taken various initiatives for the effective regulation of social media platforms. 

Content blocking mechanisms in India

1. Currently, there are two parallel content blocking mechanisms in India. One is under Section 69 (A) of the IT Act, through which content that violates national security, or threatens India’s foreign policy, is taken down. 

— Various ministries and state governments have nodal officers who gather such content and send it to officials at the IT Ministry, which is the final signing-off agency responsible for issuing the blocking order.

2. The other mechanism works under Section 79 (3)(b) of the IT Act, under which various ministries have been directly empowered to issue blocking orders to online platforms, most commonly through the Home Ministry-led Sahyog portal.

IT Rules 2021

1. After extensive consultations with the public and stakeholders, Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (“IT Rules”) have been enacted under the authority of section 87(2) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, thereby superseding the previous Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules 2011.

2. Under it all social media platforms are asked to set up a grievances redressal and compliance mechanism, which included appointing a resident grievance officer, chief compliance officer and a nodal contact person. 

3. The Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology has also asked social media platforms to submit monthly reports on complaints received from users and action taken. A third requirement for instant messaging apps is to make provisions for tracking the first originator of a message.

4. Failure to comply with any one of these requirements would take away the indemnity provided to social media intermediaries under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

Section 79 of the IT Act, 2000

1. Section 79 says any intermediary shall not be held legally or otherwise liable for any third party information, data, or communication link made available or hosted on its platform. This protection, the Act says, shall be applicable if the said intermediary does not in any way, initiate the transmission of the message in question, select the receiver of the transmitted message and does not modify any information contained in the transmission.

2. The protection accorded under Section 79, however, is not granted if the intermediary, despite being informed or notified by the government or its agencies, does not immediately disable access to the material under question. The intermediary must not tamper with any evidence of these messages or content present on its platform, failing which it loses its protection under the Act.

3. Notably, In April 2023, the amendments granted the government authority to determine what information is considered false. As a result, the government can exercise extensive censorship powers by requiring intermediaries to remove posts that they label as fake or misleading.

BEYOND THE NUGGET: Age-based Social Media Ban

1. Last year, Australia became the first country in the world to enforce a minimum age for social media use, requiring platforms such as Instagram, YouTube and Snap to block over a million accounts of users below the age of 16.

2. Recently, the UK became the latest country to tighten online safety for children. On June 15, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that under-16s would be banned from social media by spring 2027.

3. A statement released by the government said the government UK “plans to use the same model for a social media ban as Australia” and that the crackdown would cover Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X, “user-to-user platforms, whose purpose is to enable social interaction and which allow users to post material, alongside algorithms”. “We do not intend for messaging services like WhatsApp and Signal to be included in the social media ban,” the statement said.

State proposals for social media

State proposals for age-based social media restriction in India

1. Though India is yet to make a regulatory move at the central level, preliminary discussions around age-based social media restrictions are learnt to have begun at the IT Ministry.

2. Earlier this year, the Economic Survey 2025-26 also called on the government to implement age-based limits for social media usage for children and digital ads targeted at them. The Survey’s recommendation stemmed from larger concerns surrounding “digital addiction” among young users.

3. Notably, Karnataka has announced a ban on social media use by children under 16 in its latest Budget, and Andhra Pradesh is also moving to introduce a measure that would prohibit those under 13 to use such services — a signal of the growing momentum in India to protect children from the various harms that social media platforms can cause.

Post Read Question

In India, it is legally mandatory for which of the following to report on cyber security incidents? (UPSC CSE 2017)

1. Service providers

2. Data centres

3. Body corporate

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 only

(b) 1 and 2 only

(c) 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

(Sources: Telegram app blocked in India till June 22 over NEET paper leak worries, UPSC Issue at a Glance | Social Media at a Crossroads: Benefits, risks, and regulation)

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