IPO-bound Reliance Jio has rejected the allegations that it is intentionally blocking access to online messaging platform Telegram even for users outside of India.
On Wednesday, Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov alleged that Reliance Jio was sabotaging access to Telegram for “millions of users” residing outside India, including in the UAE, through a method called BGP hijacking.
However, Jio has clarified that the telecom provider was not involved in any such incident. “Jio continues to operate its network in accordance with global Internet routing best practices and the highest standards of reliability, security, and transparency,” it said in a post on X.
Durov, in his post, alleged that Jio failed to act on reports of BGP configuration. He further purported that it appeared to be a concerted effort by Jio and Telegram’s rival WhatsApp, whose parent company Meta owns a stake in Jio.
“Such abuse of global Internet routing is alarming. I wouldn’t be surprised if Reliance/WhatsApp were also behind the recent lobbying effort to ban Telegram in India,” he said while advising network operators to reject unauthorised BGP announcements from Reliance to “prevent route hijacks and ensure stable Internet access for their users”.
For context, BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) configuration is the process of setting up routers to exchange routing information between different autonomous systems, enabling networks to determine the most efficient data paths across the internet to deliver internet traffic.
The issue cropped up after Telegram was banned in the country by the MeitY on Tuesday till July 22 amid fears of competitive examination NEET (UG)’s question paper leaking on the platform again. The ministry also directed Telegram to disable its message-editing feature in the country until June 30, to curb alleged exam-related fraud and misinformation linked to
The National Testing Agency (NTA) told MeitY that the platform was allegedly used by organised cheating rackets to sell fake access to exam papers, spread misinformation and fabricate “paper leak” evidence.
Telegram’s Durov has been up in arms against the central government since the ban, noting on X that other platforms were already being used to share misinformation about NEET while Telegram was being put in focus. “This punishes 150M+ ordinary Telegram users in India — not the insiders who leaked the exam materials,” he said after the ban was announced.
On Wednesday, Telegram moved the Delhi High Court challenging MeitY’s temporary restriction. The Union government is expected to submit its response today, post which the matter will be heard by the bench.
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