NEW DELHI, JULY 4: The Central Government has issued a notice to messaging platform Telegram, directing it to take immediate steps to curb the widespread circulation of pirated films, OTT content and other copyrighted audio-visual material on its platform, officials said on Saturday.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) has asked Telegram to submit an Action Taken Report (ATR) within 15 days, signalling a shift in the government’s approach from individual content takedowns to holding digital platforms accountable for preventing copyright violations.
According to officials, the ministry has informed Telegram that copyright infringement is not merely a civil matter but also a criminal offence under the Copyright Act, 1957, and the Cinematograph Act, 1952.
“The Ministry has made it clear that Telegram cannot merely wait for the government to identify each piracy channel one by one. A purely reactive, channel-by-channel takedown approach may not be sufficient to demonstrate due diligence under the Information Technology Act, 2000, and the IT Rules, 2021,” officials said.
The notice comes amid the Centre’s broader scrutiny of major digital platforms. Earlier this week, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued a notice to Meta over WhatsApp’s proposed username feature and later decided to summon the company regarding Instagram advertisements allegedly promoting child sexual abuse material.
The I&B Ministry has also sought details of Telegram’s grievance redressal mechanism for content creators, OTT platforms and law enforcement agencies. Officials said the platform has been reminded of its obligation, as an intermediary, to exercise due diligence under the Information Technology Act, 2000, and the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
Officials warned that the continued availability of pirated content, inadequate compliance or an incomplete response to the notice could invite further action under the applicable legal framework.
The government said the move is aimed at protecting India’s creator economy, film industry, broadcasters, OTT platforms, producers and distributors from online piracy.
