Syllabus: GS2/ Polity & Governance
In News
- MeitY temporarily blocked Telegram in India under Section 69A of the IT Act 2000, on NTA’s recommendation, after criminal networks exploited the platform’s message-editing feature to defraud NEET UG 2026 re-examination candidates.
About Section 69A of IT Act 2000
- The Union Government or any specially authorised officer can direct any government agency or intermediary to block public access to digital information.
- Grounds for invocation are narrowly defined sovereignty and integrity of India, defence, security of State, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, or preventing incitement to cognisable offences.
- The Supreme Court in Shreya Singhal v. Union of India (2015) upheld Section 69A as constitutionally valid, describing it as a “narrowly drawn provision with several safeguards.”
- Blocking orders must go through an inter-ministerial committee under the IT (Blocking Rules) 2009 before implementation.
- Section 69A is the same provision used to ban 59 Chinese apps in June 2020 including TikTok, UC Browser, and ShareIt, making the Telegram block one of the most significant individual app actions India has taken since then.
Significance of the IT Act 2000
- Digital signatures: Establishes legal framework for asymmetric cryptosystem-based authentication of online transactions.
- Intermediary liability and Safe Harbour (Section 79): Grants immunity to platforms from third-party content provided they exercise due diligence and comply with government orders.
- Cyber offences and penalties: Comprehensive penal framework covering hacking, identity theft, source code tampering, digital fraud, and data privacy breaches.
- Cyber Appellate Tribunal: Administrative hierarchy for settling tech-related civil disputes and data breaches.
Issues and Concerns
- Proportionality problem: The block affected 150 million ordinary Telegram users in India for a platform-wide fraud committed by a small number of criminal actors.
- Enforcement gaps: Section 69A orders direct ISPs and telecom operators to block access, but enforcement is notoriously uneven depending on individual ISP implementation, and VPNs render such blocks trivial to bypass, raising questions about effectiveness.
- Opacity and accountability: Section 69A orders are issued without public disclosure of the specific content or reasoning, making judicial review and civil society scrutiny difficult.
Source: TH
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