Telegram Restored on Google Play After Week-Long NEET-Related Ban Expires

Telegram was restored on Google Play Store on June 23, 2026, following the expiration of a temporary government-imposed ban that lasted approximately one week. The suspension had been ordered by Indian authorities over concerns that the platform failed to prevent the spread of fake NEET examination papers and related misinformation ahead of the NEET re-examination. The National Testing Agency argued that Telegram's message-editing capability—which allows retroactive edits without visible traces—posed a risk of enabling the spread of false claims about leaked exam papers that could cause student panic.

While Android users regained access through Google Play, the app remained unavailable on Apple's App Store on Tuesday morning, with Apple providing no immediate explanation for the delay. The government has directed Telegram to disable its message-editing feature until June 30 as a precautionary measure. Prior to the ban, government officials had met with Telegram representatives on June 3 to discuss platform concerns. Telegram founder Pavel Durov criticised the ban, arguing the platform was unfairly penalised for the actions of a small number of users, though government sources indicated no extension of restrictions was planned.

The blocking order prompted significant technical responses from Indian telecom operators and Internet service providers, who deployed IP blackholing—a technique that creates alternate routing paths to prevent access to specific services. Most operators reversed the blocking on Tuesday, though some, including Vodafone Idea, took longer to restore access. The widespread blocking also triggered a temporary disruption affecting overseas operators when Reliance Communications misconfigured its network routing, though the issue was resolved within hours.

The incident sparked debate over content moderation and government authority. The Delhi High Court upheld the blocking order, with Justice Tejas Karia ruling it was sufficiently narrow and proportionate. However, civil liberties advocates raised concerns about the precedent. Apar Gupta, founder-director of the Internet Freedom Foundation, warned that the judgment could normalise platform-based blocking and make government censorship easier to justify. He noted that queries related to virtual private networks used to bypass restrictions had more than doubled during the blocking period. ProtonVPN executive David Peterson's account was subsequently withheld in India following a post citing these VPN usage statistics.

The NEET re-examination conducted on June 21 proceeded without reported incidents of malpractice, according to officials. The episode highlighted both the technical capacity and willingness of Indian telecom and internet infrastructure providers to rapidly implement blocking orders on government direction, as well as ongoing tensions between platform governance, user privacy, and government regulatory authority.