15-day govt notice for Telegram to act on piracy channels

THe Ministry of info and Broadcasting (MIB) issued a mark to wire on sat, asking the electronic messaging platform to take stronger action against the spread of pirated films, OTT content and other copyrighted audio-visual material on its platform.The ministry has sought an action taken report within 15 days.The move closely follows a ministry directive on March 11, in which it asked Telegram to disable access to over 3,000 channels distributing pirated movies, web series and audiobooks within three hours. The 120-page long list contained movies and web series on OTT platforms like Amazon Prime, SonyLiv, Jio Hotstar, ShemarooMe, and others.Saturday’s notice marked what the ministry described as a shift from “piecemeal takedown to platform accountability.” It noted that while the government issued a notice to take down 3,000 Telegram channels, the platform “cannot merely wait for Government to identify each piracy channel one by one.”To be sure, the ministry did not share the notice itself with the media but a brief of what it entailed.Using strong language, the brief said that “a purely reactive, channel-by-channel takedown approach may not be enough to show due diligence” under the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. It reminded Telegram that, as an intermediary, it is required to observe due diligence under the law.“Telegram has been asked to strengthen systems for detection, reporting, disabling access to and removal of pirated films and infringing audio-visual content. It has been directed to act against repeat infringers, including channels, groups, bots, accounts, administrators and associated entities,” read the brief.The government also sought details of Telegram’s grievance redressal mechanism for film producers, OTT platforms and law enforcement agencies.The notice added that copyright infringement was “not merely a civil violation, but a criminal offence in India” under the Copyright Act, 1957 and the Cinematograph Act, 1952. It warned that the continued availability of pirated content, evasive compliance or an incomplete response could invite further examination and action.According to the ministry, the move aims to protect India’s creator economy, including the film industry, broadcasters, OTT platforms, producers and distributors from online piracy.This is the Centre’s second regulatory action against Telegram this week.Earlier this week, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) sent notices to Telegram, Signal and WhatsApp over the “username” feature which allows users to connect without revealing their phone numbers. MeitY believes the feature could increase the risks of impersonation, identity theft, phishing and digital fraud.Telegram also came under scrutiny in India over its role in the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak controversy. Ahead of the re-examination, the Centre temporarily blocked access to the platform after the National Testing Agency (NTA) flagged concerns that question papers and answer keys were being circulated through Telegram.Telegram did not immediately respond to HT’s request for comment.