Telegram blocked ahead of NEET re-exam, Internet asks: ‘Will this stop paper leaks?’

The Central government has temporarily blocked Telegram in India ahead of the NEET UG 2026 re-examination scheduled for June 21. The move comes as authorities seek to prevent cheating and curb the spread of misinformation linked to the country's largest medical entrance examination.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) welcomed the decision, stating that it was aimed at maintaining the integrity of the examination process. According to the government, organised cheating networks have allegedly used Telegram to defraud candidates appearing for NEET UG. The messaging platform will remain inaccessible in India until June 22.

Why Has Telegram Been Restricted?

The decision comes weeks after the NEET UG 2026 examination was cancelled amid allegations of irregularities and claims of a paper leak.

The examination, which was originally scheduled for May 3, was scrapped following the controversy. The re-examination is now set to be conducted on June 21 under heightened security measures.

Officials have maintained that the temporary restriction on Telegram is intended to disrupt channels that could potentially be used to circulate leaked examination material or spread misleading information related to the test.

Social Media Questions The Move

The temporary block quickly became a major topic of discussion online, with users expressing a range of opinions about the government's decision.

Among the most widely shared reactions was a post by X user Arun Prabhudesai, who argued that restricting Telegram would not address the underlying issues behind examination leaks.

"Can anyone tell me how banning Telegram is a solution here? Telegram isn't a chat app for most builders in India. It's the default deployment layer for AI agents, trading bots, automation pipelines. My team runs on it. So does much of the dev ecosystem I know.

Blocking it for six days because NEET leaked on Telegram misses the point. The leak didn't happen because of Telegram, it happened because the exam chain of custody broke. Paper leaks move to WhatsApp, Signal, email, USB drives, printouts, whatever channel exists. Killing one pipe doesn't fix the plumbing.

And it doesn't even work for the stated goal. Anyone who wants Telegram opens a VPN in 30 seconds. The exam cheaters aren't stopped. The builders are.

Now every agent, bot, and scheduled workflow hitting a Telegram webhook is dead till June 22. Not just ours. Thousands of them. For an exam security measure that doesn't address the root cause.

The collateral damage is the actual digital infrastructure people built while nobody was watching."

Others echoed similar concerns.

"just coz these losers couldn't stop paper leak, they banned telegram," one user wrote on X.

Another user posted:

"> can't stop paper leaks

ends up blocking telegram

blocking telegram totally isn't even possible, telegram is designed in such a way which easily allows people to use proxies and other methods of circumvention."

Teachers And Students Raise Concerns

Some users highlighted Telegram's role as an educational communication platform.

One user identifying as a teacher wrote:

"Telegram to be restricted in India for some time

As a teacher I interact with thousands of students daily on telegram

Not sure what’s the alternative of it

UPSC declared its prelims results last night and my messages are flooded with so many students seeking what to do ahead

Telegram helps many like me to keep the coaching accessible and affordable (even free since communication is very easy)

But we live in a society where govt can’t fix itself, it can’t correct its own ministers and departments, so it starts restricting others

This is a terrible solution to a disease so deep that to me it exposes the absolute lack of control of government on nefarious elements

At times you even start wondering if the nefarious elements have Govt’s backing and it just wants to use them to control the masses through non-state interventions

Overall, govt is well known to go after well meaning people and activities to show it’s doing something

Even after so many years, the govt stays unbelievably incompetent."

Another user argued that platform restrictions could have unintended consequences:

"Banning social media for teenagers only puts them in greater danger.

Teens are forced to switch to VPNs — and unlock far worse illegal content.

We’ve seen this before. When the Russian government banned Telegram, 95% of Russian teenagers kept using it. They just moved to VPNs."

Some Users Back The Decision

Not all reactions were critical. Some users supported the government's action, arguing that stronger measures were necessary to prevent another examination controversy.

"Telegram will be blocked in India till June 22 for NEET exam. This is a great move because it was Telegram which was responsible for paper setting and leaks. If still paper leaks, next option is to block Internet in India," one user wrote.

Memes And Claims Of Continued Access

The restriction also generated a wave of memes across social media platforms, with users sharing jokes and commentary about the temporary block.

At the same time, several users posted videos claiming that Telegram continued to function despite the announced restriction, raising questions about the implementation and effectiveness of the measure.

With the NEET UG 2026 re-examination scheduled for June 21, the temporary restriction on Telegram has become part of a broader debate over examination security, digital platforms and the measures needed to prevent future irregularitie