you had me at The NTA has categorically said that no paper was leaked so there was no real leak ngl
Durov is missing the point here, and the students he claims to speak for are exactly who NTA is trying to protect.
Let me give credit where it is due, because I think NTA got this mostly right.
Let me start with what was actually happening.
The NTA has categorically said that no paper was leaked. So, there was no real leak.
What there was, was rackets running channels openly named "PAPER LEAKED NEET" and "Re-NEET 2026," selling fake papers to terrified kids and demanding anything from a few thousand to a few lakh rupees.
Durov says Telegram shows when a message was edited, and that they are making that edited tag more prominent. Fine.
But think about who is on the other side of this.
A 17 year old at 1 AM before the biggest exam of their life, running on no sleep and pure fear. When a channel flashes a "leaked paper" at them, they are not going to squint for a tiny edited label.
Scared people do not read the fine print. NTA understood that. Durov does not seem to.
But the most important bit is simply the fact that Telegram has no office in India and answers to nobody.
India tried taking these channels down one by one, and it went nowhere. New ones appeared faster than the old ones came down.
When the platform refuses to be reachable and lets extortion run in the open, what exactly is a government supposed to do, shrug and let students get robbed?
So NTA did something smart, if you read the actual order.
The block is only till June 22, around the re-exam. The editing curb runs till June 30. It is targeted, time bound, and tied to one specific exam window.
Yes, a temporary block is not a perfect tool, and we should always be careful about blocking apps. Fair.
But clearly, Telegram would just not cooperate and the platform continued to run rackets that were actively fleecing scared children.
NTA chose to protect the kids. That was the right call.
Durov is defending his app. NTA was defending 22 lakh students. I know whose side I am on. :)