The center again stops Telegram and demands an “anti-piracy” action within 15 days | Today’s news

Telegram has again come under the scrutiny of the Center due to “widespread distribution of pirated movies, OTT content and other audiovisual material”. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) issued a notice to the messaging platform and asked it to take anti-piracy measures within 15 days. Messaging platform

The government ordered Telegram to tighten its anti-piracy measures and set a 15-day deadline “to strengthen systems for detecting, reporting, denying access to pirated movies and infringing audiovisual content, and removing them.” The ministry also ordered the messaging platform to crack down on infringers, including channels, groups, bots, accounts, administrators and affiliates.

“The communication signals a clear shift from phasing out to platform accountability. The government has previously cracked down on more than 3,000 Telegram channels with pirated content,” the government said in a statement. While searching for information on anti-piracy measures, she noted that the platform must mandatorily meet the requirements of the IT Act and IT Rules.

The center further warned that if Telegram fails to “prevent, detect and remove pirated content from the platform” and submit a report on the measures, it could trigger legal action under the Copyright Act 1957 and the Cinematography Act 1952.

Noting that the government had earlier flagged more than 3,000 Telegram channels with pirated content, the ministry sought details of Telegram’s complaint-handling system for producers, OTT platforms and law enforcement agencies. The center called for a shift from phase-out to platform responsibility, clarifying that a purely reactive “channel-by-channel approach to takedown may not be sufficient to demonstrate due diligence.”