India blocks – India has temporarily blocked Telegram until June 22, citing a leaked NEET medical entrance test paper circulated on the app. The move comes after the National Testing Agency annulled results of the May 3 exam and ordered a re-test on June 21, amid broader all
A messaging app went dark across India for reasons that sound simple—until you read the details.
Telegram will be unavailable until June 22, after India’s government annulled the results of a key medical school entrance test. The decision was tied to claims that answers were leaked ahead of time on Telegram. To preserve the integrity of a re-test scheduled for June 21. the government said it would completely block the app through the exams. ending on June 22.
It’s a blunt measure in a country where Telegram is estimated to be used by around 84 million people. But the Telegram block doesn’t arrive in a vacuum. The exam system itself has already been under fierce criticism. with India’s primary opposition leader describing it as “broken and corrupt.” That critique helped spark student outrage and protests against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The controversy behind the current crackdown traces back to the NEET medical entrance exam run by India’s Central Board of Secondary Education, known as CBSE. On May 3, about 2.28 million students took the test. Many had spent years preparing for it.
This year, CBSE introduced an On-Screen Marking system aimed at grading millions of answers sheets more efficiently. But the contract for that system went to a controversial firm, and after the initial exam, students reported discrepancies in their results.
One student shared a scan of his answer sheet and said it wasn’t even his. “I studied for an entire year. And now I don’t even know whether MY actual Physics paper was checked,” he wrote in a post on X. Other complaints followed. including allegations that security vulnerabilities existed in the test marking portal—that it could be entered and marks could be edited.
On May 12. India’s National Testing Agency annulled the results. saying investigators found evidence that large portions of the paper may have been leaked and circulated on Telegram before the test. The NTA said Telegram channels titled “Paper Leaked NEET” offered access to exam papers in exchange for money.
Even as the government moves to shut down the app during the re-test, criticism has already landed. The Internet Freedom Foundation called the ban a “band-aid solution” and “disproportionate. ” arguing it would punish ordinary users instead of addressing the systemic sources of exam leaks. The group said the Telegram block is “reactive and ineffective.”.
What’s playing out in India is a familiar clash: a crackdown aimed at a single platform versus complaints that the bigger problem sits elsewhere in the exam process. With the re-test on June 21 and the app scheduled to remain blocked until June 22. students now face a narrow window where integrity is supposed to be restored—while the debate over how and why the system failed in the first place refuses to fade.
India Telegram block June 22 NEET leak National Testing Agency re-test June 21 CBSE On-Screen Marking security vulnerabilities Internet Freedom Foundation
So they blocked Telegram… but like why not just arrest the people who leaked it? Seems backwards.
This NEET thing sounds like a mess. Telegram being used by 84 million is insane, like that’s basically everyone’s group chat. If they’re gonna do a re-test anyway, blocking apps won’t magically fix the grading drama.
Wait, I thought Telegram got blocked because of NEET cheating and protests? But it says all A messaging app went dark too? So like are they targeting Modi’s opponents or the students or the computer system? Idk man, sounds political and also a little techy.
I read that India blocked Telegram until June 22 and honestly I’m not surprised. The whole exam system is “broken and corrupt” right? Then they hire some controversial firm for on-screen marking and suddenly students are getting random results… sounds like they’re blaming an app when the real issue is the grading. Plus June 21 re-test then June 22 block makes no sense to me.