Telegram asked to remove over 3,100 channels over copyright violations within 3 hours by Indian govt

Tightening the noose for copyright violations, the Central government on Wednesday, March 11, directed instant messaging platform Telegram to remove over 3,100 channels within three hours. The channels were being removed for violating various provisions of the Copyright Act, 1957.

According to the government sources quoted by AN, the action to remove over 3,000 channels follows complaints received from OTT platforms. According to the reports, the government had received complaints from JioCinema, Amazon Prime Video and others. They alleged large-scale piracy of copyrighted content on Telegram.

When found that the channels were indeed hosting and distributing contents owned by other content owners and OTT platforms, the Central government issued orders.

In a notification, Joint Secretary C Senthil Rajan said the unlawful content had been "hosted, shared and distributed" on the intermediary platform in violation of the Copyright Act, 1957.

"The intermediary Telegram is hereby notified to remove and disable access to the concerned Telegram channels, including all of their content, within three hours of the issue of this communication without vitiating the evidence in any manner," the notification said.

The order identified a total of 3,142 Telegram channels for removal.

Earlier in October 2025, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) notified the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2025, to amend the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 ("IT Rules, 2021").

These amendments strengthen the due diligence framework for intermediaries under the Information Technology Act, 2000 (“IT Act”). In particular, changes to Rule 3(1)(d) introduce additional safeguards to ensure that the removal of unlawful content is conducted in a transparent, proportionate, and accountable manner. The amended rules will come into effect on November 15, 2025.

The IT Rules, 2021 were first notified on February 25, 2021. They were later amended on October 2022 and then on April 2023.

They prescribe due diligence obligations on intermediaries, including social media intermediaries, with the objective of ensuring online safety, security, and accountability.

Under Rule 3(1)(d), intermediaries are required to remove unlawful information upon receiving actual knowledge either through a court order or notification from the Appropriate Government.

The review undertaken by MeitY highlighted the need for additional safeguards to ensure senior-level accountability, precise specification of unlawful content, and periodic review of government directions at a higher level.

(With inputs from PTI, ANI)