India's solution to entrance exam fraud: A temporary ban on Telegram
cnbc.comSeems like WhatsApp, which is much, much larger in India, couldn’t be restricted like this because everybody depends on it. Government work, police work, judicial work, everything happens on WhatsApp. Telegram is a good poster child to be beaten up because it has (built) a reputation for scams and frauds.
The way internet and internet platforms work in India is by the heavy hand of the government, which used bans regularly. Internet shutdowns are extremely common in India, where tens of millions of people may be affected.
This action won’t really solve the problem. But the government can claim that it’s doing something…that something being distraction from real accountability and responsibility.
If whatsapp is restricted in India people will be on the streets. But as you said, this might be first of many bans on Telegram. In the end they will make it a hassle to use it reliably.
I for one am happy that they were only able to ban Telegram (and by the looks of it, they weren't really successful because there are reports that the app continues to work). Nothing of much consequence happens due to this, and the government ends up looking like clowns, which they are.
As the internet becomes more critical for work and education, they're finding out that they cannot impose shutdowns for too long without hampering everyday life and commerce, which would make people angry.
The more the people in power get repeatedly shown up like this, the faster things will improve.
Thank god ISRO isn’t run by the same group of people