Telegram case: Delhi high court rejects plea challenging Centre's temporary ban on platform
Mumbai/New Delhi: In a significant ruling for online platform regulation, the Delhi High Court on Friday rejected Telegram's plea challenging the Centre's temporary ban on
Mumbai/New Delhi: In a significant ruling for online platform regulation, the Delhi High Court on Friday rejected Telegram's plea challenging the Centre's temporary ban on the messaging platform, stating that the government's action under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act was justified. Justice Tejas Karia upheld the blocking order, issued ahead of the NEET-UG re-examination, to curb the alleged misuse of the platform by paper-leak and cheating networks. The Centre had blocked Telegram until 22 June following recommendations from the Testing Agency (NTA) and the department of higher education, arguing that organised groups were using the platform to circulate purported examination papers and facilitate exam-related fraud. The court found that the government had provided sufficient reasons to justify the blocking order and declined to interfere with the exercise of powers under Section 69A of the IT Act, which empowers the Centre to block online content or platforms in the interests of public order, national security and preventing unlawful activities.
The ruling is likely to be closely watched by social media and messaging platforms, as it reinforces the Centre's authority to impose platform-wide restrictions under Section 69A in circumstances where it considers such action necessary to safeguard public interest and curb illegal activities. Queries emailed to Telegram and the ministry of education remained unanswered till press time. Telegram argued in its plea that the government's imposition of a ban was applied without adequate application of mind. It also questioned the proportionality of the government's argument that the blocking order failed to justify why a platform-wide ban was necessary. “The impugned order does not provide any basis as to why such a draconian measure, affecting the rights of the Petitioners, as also over 150 million users of Telegram in India, is a proportionate remedy,” the company said. Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, who represented the government, said Telegram’s architecture differs from that of other messaging platforms, making it difficult for the company itself to prevent misuse.
Adding to that, Mehta also told the court that reports have identified Telegram as a preferred platform for terrorist activities. Attorney general R. Venkataramani, who was also present in the hearing via video conferencing, in the concluding remarks said, “This platform, because of its architecture, is a Frankenstein. If a country like ours cannot take preventive action, then where do we go?” He said the action the Centre took was necessary to prevent further damage. Telegram defended its content-moderation systems in its petition, saying it reviews around 35 billion content items globally every month using AI-powered tools and maintains an accuracy rate of more than 99% in detecting illegal content. Justice Tejas Karia, after hearing the arguments, asked, "How can we stop the rights of 150 million people just because one set of citizens is appearing in examinations?" More than 2 million students appeared for the medical entrance examination this year.
The BriefWire