VPN usage spikes in India as government bans Telegram
What's the story
VPN usage has witnessed a massive surge in India, following the government's decision to ban access to Telegram. The move was aimed at curbing cheating during a nationwide entrance exam for aspiring medical students. David Peterson, General Manager of Proton VPN, revealed that hourly registrations for their service shot up by 150% after the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) blocked Telegram for 150 million users "over leaked exam questions."
Search trends
'Vpn for telegram' searches surge
Along with the spike in VPN registrations, Google searches for "telegram vpn" and "vpn for telegram" have also surged in the last two days, Google Trends data reveals. The National Testing Agency (NTA) of India has suspended Telegram until June 22, after exams are over. The decision was taken due to the platform's organized use by cheating rackets to defraud candidates taking the exam.
Fraud claims
NTA denies existence of leaked NEET-UG question papers
The NTA has denied the existence of any leaked NEET-UG question papers outside the secured examination chain. It called such promises "fraud" and clarified that some Telegram channels have been selling access to what they claim are copies of this exam. Scammers are reportedly using Telegram's message-editing feature to upload exam content after tests conclude, further complicating matters.
Exam rescheduling
NEET-UG exam rescheduled to June
The NEET-UG exam, originally conducted in May with 2.28 million candidates, was canceled over cheating allegations and rescheduled for June. Telegram CEO Pavel Durov criticized the ban on X, saying it punishes "150 million+ ordinary Telegram users in India, not the insiders who leaked the exam materials." He also claimed that the ban hasn't stopped anything as leaks have just shifted to other apps.
Ban backlash
Internet Freedom Foundation criticizes blanket ban
The Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) has criticized the blanket ban, saying students "depend on Telegram for study groups, doubt-clearing, and shared resources." It argued that if channel-level takedown contained the harm, then a blanket block is unnecessary. The IFF also questioned why a heavier tool was chosen when a lighter one was working in curbing potential leaks.
Accusations
Durov accuses Reliance of sabotaging access to Telegram
Durov has accused Indian telecom giant Reliance of sabotaging access to Telegram for millions of users outside India through a method called BGP hijacking. He claimed this could be part of a competitive war, given Reliance's partial ownership by Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp. However, Reliance Jio has denied these allegations and insisted it "has not been involved" in any such misconfigurations.