Oh hello, @durov
Nobody is using Telegram in India for messaging. Telegram is mostly used by scammers in India. Most financial fraud (Billions of dollars) in India happens through Telegram
The Indian government should have banned Telegram years ago. It is long overdue.
I’ve been noticing the same pattern for years. Almost every fraudster immediately moves to Telegram. it’s harder to trace, easier to operate.
Calling this an internet freedom issue misses the point completely.
Telegram became one of the preferred platforms for financial fraud, scam networks, betting groups, piracy, and other illegal activities in India.
Today's Telegram ban is proof of why an indigenous social media or messaging app can never grow in India.
If @durov was Indian, he would be in jail along with his entire team and his entire infrastructure seized because a question paper was supposedly leaked on Telegram. It would have taken a few months to get bail. Line of FIRs stretching to Kanyakumari. Court cases dragging on for a decade or more. TV channels would have gone to town with all kinds of consipracies of how Soros is involved.
We have vaguely written laws, open to the worst interpretation and bureaucratic overreactions. It's not a stable foundation for anyone to build on.
The same applies to now AI. Anyday someone will be offended in this country by anything an indigenous AI generates in text or images and the founders can find themselves in jail and fighting court cases.
India’s IT ministry banned Telegram for one week because some users shared leaked exam questions.
This punishes 150M+ ordinary Telegram users in India — not the insiders who leaked the exam materials.
And the ban hasn't stopped anything. The leaks just moved to other apps.
@kirawontmiss Rule 13A of FIFA's official playing guidelines states that play is allowed only when it rains, provided a bonfire has been approved in the center