The Information and Broadcasting Ministry on Saturday issued a notice to Telegram over piracy matters and asked it to take immediate measures against pirated films and OTT content and submit Action Taken Report in 15 days. The action by the ministry has been taken to protect India’s creator economy, film industry, broadcasters, OTT platforms, producers, and distributors. Apart from this, Telegram has also been directed to act against what the I&B ministry described as repeat infringers, including channels, groups, bots, accounts, administrators and associated entities.
The communication from the Centre comes as a signal of a clear shift from piecemeal takedown to platform accountability. The Centre earlier had acted against over 3,000 Telegram channels carrying pirated content.
Move from Centre aimed at protecting India’s creator economy
The move from the ministry is aimed at protecting India’s creator economy and safeguarding the interests of the film industry, broadcasters, OTT platforms, producers and distributors from online piracy.
The latest notice from the Centre follows complaints from several OTT platforms and content owners alleging that copyrighted films and web series were being widely shared on Telegram without authorisation.
3,142 Telegram channels allegedly distributing pirated movies
After examining such complaints, the ministry identified 3,142 Telegram channels allegedly distributing pirated movies, web series and other copyrighted content.
The notice from the ministry was issued under the Information Technology Act, 2000, directing Telegram to remove the infringing content and strengthen compliance with intermediary obligations.
As part of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, online intermediaries are required to remove unlawful content after receiving a valid government notice or court order.
The I&B ministry in the notice reminded Telegram that, as an intermediary, it is required to observe due diligence under the IT Act and IT Rules. Moreover, the Centre made it clear that Telegram cannot merely wait for Government to identify each piracy channel one by one, according to the notice.
Telegram has come under scanner over concerns related to sensitive content
Over the past months, Telegram has come under the regulatory lens in India with rising concerns related to fraud, impersonation and circulation of sensitive content.
The Centre had imposed a week-long ban on Telegram and its associated web services until June 22, citing the platform's failure to curb the circulation of leaked and fake National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) examination papers, misleading content and other fraudulent activities linked to the country's medical entrance examination process. The instant messaging platform, however, returned to service in India after the government ban expired.
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