Pavel Durov Criticises India’s Telegram Ban and Accuses Reliance of Disrupting Access Abroad
Telegram’s founder says India’s temporary ban is hurting ordinary users while failing to stop exam paper leaks.
Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov has criticised India’s decision to temporarily ban Telegram, saying the move unfairly affects more than 150 million regular users in the country.
According to Durov, India’s IT ministry blocked Telegram for one week after some users allegedly shared leaked exam questions on the platform. He argued that the decision does not target the people responsible for leaking the materials, but instead punishes millions of ordinary users who rely on the app for daily communication.
Durov also claimed that the ban has not solved the problem. He said those involved in sharing leaked exam material have simply moved to other messaging platforms, making the restriction ineffective.
In a separate allegation, Durov accused Indian telecom company Reliance of disrupting Telegram access for users outside India, including in the UAE. He claimed this was being done through a method known as BGP hijacking, which can redirect internet traffic through unauthorised routes and affect service availability beyond a country’s borders.
Durov said the disruption appeared intentional, claiming Reliance had ignored multiple reports about the issue. He also suggested that the matter could be linked to competition between messaging platforms, pointing to Meta, the company behind WhatsApp, as a possible beneficiary of pressure on Telegram.
Reliance Jio has denied any involvement in BGP hijacking or any attempt to interfere with Telegram’s services. The company said it follows global internet routing standards and rejected allegations of route manipulation.
Durov urged network operators to reject unauthorised BGP announcements from Reliance’s AS18101 network in order to protect stable access to Telegram and prevent route hijacking.
The controversy has raised fresh questions about platform bans, internet freedom, and the risks of using national telecom infrastructure in ways that may affect users beyond a country’s borders.