Government warns Telegram of legal action over pirated content

The Centre has issued a notice to Telegram directing it to curb the spread of pirated films and OTT content and submit an Action Taken Report within 15 days. The government warned that continued non-compliance could invite action under the applicable legal framework

New Delhi: The Centre has served a notice to popular messaging app Telegram, directing it to crack down on the “widespread dissemination” of pirated films, OTT content and other audio-visual material through its platform, government officials said on Saturday.

In its notice, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting sought an Action Taken Report from Telegram within 15 days, with officials underlining that the government’s approach marks a shift from piecemeal takedowns of pirated content to “platform accountability”.

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The ministry is learnt to have told Telegram, which was temporarily blocked in India in June as a precautionary measure to prevent any paper leak during the NEET re-examination, that copyright infringement is not merely a civil violation but also a criminal offence under the Copyright Act, 1957, and the Cinematograph Act, 1952.

“The Ministry has made it clear that Telegram cannot merely wait for the government to identify each piracy channel one by one. A purely reactive, channel-by-channel takedown approach may not be enough to demonstrate due diligence by the platform, as required under the IT Act, 2000, and the IT Rules, 2021,” officials said.

The notice to Telegram follows the Centre’s recent regulatory action against Meta. On Wednesday, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued a notice to Meta questioning the planned username feature on WhatsApp and, later in the week, decided to summon the company over Instagram advertisements allegedly promoting child sexual abuse material.

Meanwhile, the I&B Ministry has also sought details of Telegram’s grievance redressal mechanism for producers, OTT platforms and law enforcement agencies, sources said.

Telegram has been reminded that, as an intermediary, it is required to observe due diligence under the IT Act and the IT Rules, they added.

“The government has made it clear that the continued availability of pirated content, evasive compliance, or an incomplete response may invite further examination and action under the applicable legal framework. The action has been taken to protect India’s creator economy, film industry, broadcasters, OTT platforms, producers and distributors,” an official added.