India shut down access to Telegram on its networks in June, just before NEET 2026 — a crucial entrance exam for medical school. The government said people were using the app to cheat by sharing exam questions and orchestrating fraud. Now Telegram is fighting back in court, saying the government's move is illegal.

NEET is the only way to get into a medical or dental degree program in India. Hundreds of thousands of students take it each year. After a major cheating scandal in 2024 that led to exam cancellations, the government became very worried about cheating happening again. That worry drove the decision to block Telegram.

The government used a law called Section 69A to do this. It's a rule that lets officials block apps or websites if they think it's necessary for public safety or order. The key thing: the government doesn't have to warn the app company first, and it doesn't have to explain its decision publicly. It just has to decide it's needed. India used this same rule to block TikTok and other Chinese apps in 2020, and to block Twitter during disputes about content.

Telegram says this is unfair. The platform's CEO called the block a "mistake" that punishes tens of millions of regular users because some bad actors used the app to cheat. Telegram argues that blocking the entire app is overkill — like shutting down a whole library because some people inside were breaking the law. Indian courts have said, in past rulings, that when a government limits how people communicate, it has to show the limit is truly necessary and that it's using the gentlest method available.

The tricky part is how Telegram works. It has both private, encrypted messages and large public group channels. That makes it hard for the government to ask Telegram to remove just the cheating content — they'd have to police massive amounts of material. So instead, the government chose to block the whole app. Other countries have done this: Brazil suspended Telegram in 2025 for similar reasons, and France arrested the app's CEO in 2024 over how he handled harmful content.

In the coming weeks, an Indian court will decide if the block was legal. If the judge stops the block, the government will have to prove in court that it had real evidence linking Telegram to the cheating — something Section 69A was designed to avoid. If the block stays, it sets a new rule: shutting down apps during exam season becomes normal.

Telegram faces real costs. India is its biggest market worldwide. If the app gets blocked every exam season and a court says that's okay, Telegram loses users and money in a country where it has spent years growing. The government faces a different risk: letting a major cheating scandal happen would be a political embarrassment after the 2024 problems. Both sides have strong reasons to fight hard.

This case is about a bigger question than just one exam: Can a government shut down a global communication app for weeks or months without proving what harm the app actually caused? The answer could shape how governments regulate apps around the world.