India's Ministry Directs Telegram to Build Piracy Filters Within 15 Days

India's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has ordered Telegram to establish systems for detecting and removing pirated content within 15 days. The directive, issued on July 4, requires the messaging platform to identify, report, disable, and remove infringing material, as well as prevent repeat uploads. Telegram must also take action against repeat infringers and provide details of its grievance redressal system.

The Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) has challenged the notice, arguing it lacks a clear legal basis and may exceed the MIB's authority. IFF contends that the relevant IT Rules require intermediaries to remove content only upon receiving actual knowledge through official orders, not to proactively scan for it. Furthermore, they suggest that Telegram, as a messaging service, falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), not the MIB.

This is not the first time MIB has targeted Telegram for piracy. In March, the ministry issued a notice against over 3,142 piracy channels. The current order demands an Action Taken Report within 15 days, alongside details of Telegram's complaint handling process for content creators and law enforcement.

IFF has raised concerns about the technical feasibility and implications of such a demand, citing the high cost and time required to develop content detection systems like YouTube's Content ID. They also point out that Telegram's architecture and end-to-end encryption pose significant challenges to automated filtering. The foundation warns that such measures could lead to the censorship of legal content and represent an overreach of governmental power in the digital space.