An Indian investigation found that Telegram is being used extensively to share child sexual
abuse material and perpetrate financial scams, according to a
report by the government, which added it was “proactively
monitoring” groups on the messaging app.
The 35-page report by the Home Ministry’s Cybercrime
Coordination Centre was submitted in court as part of the
government’s successful defence of a one-week ban of the app
after a question paper to the country’s medical school exam was
allegedly leaked.
In that case, Telegram was accused of not doing enough to
prevent misinformation in its channels — a charge it denies. The
ban was lifted on Tuesday, though a feature which allows the
editing of old messages will not be able to be used until June
30.
The Indian government said in the report it is concerned
about Telegram’s privacy features, which allow users to interact
without needing to reveal a phone number, making identity
detection difficult.
That is not possible on WhatsApp, the most popular chat app
in India with over 500 million users.
“Cyber criminals use Telegram to access closed
groups/channels … (India) is proactively monitoring such
Telegram groups and channels,” said the report, which was not
public but was reviewed by Reuters.
Telegram and the Home Ministry did not respond to Reuters
queries about the report.
TELEGRAM MUCH CRITICISED, HIGHLY SCRUTINISED
The scrutiny of the app in India, which is its biggest
market with more than 150 million users, is only the latest of
several investigations.
France in 2024 launched a probe into activity by organised
crime on the app. That same year, Telegram was at the centre of
an uproar in South Korea over sexually explicit deepfake images
and videos of women that were often found in the app’s
chatrooms, and in Spain, its use was temporarily suspended over
copyright concerns.
In April, Britain’s communications regulator launched an
investigation into Telegram after evidence suggested child
sexual abuse material was being shared on the platform.
Telegram has denied the allegations and said since 2018 it has
“virtually eliminated” the public spread of child sexual abuse
material on its platform through detection algorithms.
CONTINUED COMPLAINTS OF ILLEGAL CONTENT, CYBERFRAUD
The Indian government’s report, dated June 10, contained
screenshots from Telegram groups depicting fake job
advertisements, material that showed the sexual abuse of
children or their exploitation, as well as a pirated version of
the blockbuster Bollywood spy movie Dhurandhar.
In court, Telegram argued that an internal review had found
that illegal content represented less than 0.1% of content on
its platform.
But according to the government’s report, it has received
more than 688,000 complaints about Telegram as a medium for
cyber fraud since 2023, causing an estimated loss of some $750
million to Indian citizens.
The government report also said that multiple Telegram
channels, groups, and user handles were reported by citizens for
online harassment and disseminating child sexual abuse content.
There were 1,556 complaints linked to the use of Telegram
between January and May this year, it said.
Published on June 23, 2026
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