E-Paper
Govt orders Telegram to disable over 3,000 piracy channels in 3 hours
The MIB ordered Telegram to disable over 3,000 channels distributing pirated content within three hours, citing copyright violations.
The Union ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) has directed messaging platform Telegram to disable access to over 3,000 channels distributing pirated movies, web series and audiobooks, invoking intermediary liability provisions under the Information Technology Act and giving the platform just three hours to comply.
In a notification dated March 11, the ministry said several Telegram channels had made available content owned or licensed by film studios, OTT platforms and producers without authorisation, in violation of the Copyright Act, 1957.
“This is a complaint-based mechanism. We received complaints from multiple sources like content owners, OTT platforms and civil society on the pirated content, hence we took the action,” said a senior MIB official requesting anonymity.
“…the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has found that certain Telegram channels (details at Annexure) have made available content owned by or licensed to certain content owners, OTT platforms and producers without authorization in violation of the Copyright Act, 1957,” said the notification.
In a two-page notification, seen by HT, 120 pages of annexure were attached detailing the Telegram channel URL, channel name, number of links with pirated content and project names.
The notice, issued by MIB joint secretary C Senthil Rajan, asks Telegram to “remove and disable access to the concerned Telegram channels… within three hours of the issue of this communication” and ensure that the action is taken “without vitiating the evidence.”
The government invoked Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and Rule 3(1)(d) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, provisions that require intermediaries to remove unlawful content once notified by authorities. Failure to do so could lead to the platform losing its safe harbour protection, which shields intermediaries from liability for user-generated content.
The three-hour deadline reflects the government’s recent tightening of intermediary obligations under amendments to the IT Rules, 2021, which significantly reduced the time available to platforms to remove unlawful content after receiving official notices. The amendments came into force on 20 February, 2026.
According to MUSO’s Piracy Trends and Insight Report 2024, India accounted for 8.12% of global piracy traffic, with around 1,756 crore visits to pirated websites, making it the second-largest source of piracy traffic after the United States, which has a 12% share.
The annexure to the notice lists dozens of Telegram channels distributing pirated content, ranging from movie and web series channels which are currently on OTT platforms like Amazon Prime, SonyLiv, Jio Hotstar, ShemarooMe, etc, to audiobook piracy networks, including those sharing content from audio platform KukuFM. The links include pirated copies of films such as KGF Chapter 2, 120 Bahadur, Two Much starring Kajol and Twinkle, Param Sundari, Kantara: A Legend - Chapter 1, and Bhool Chuk Maaf.
