Telegram restores App Store listing after India-driven delisting

Telegram is back on both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store after a temporary delisting that started around June 16, triggered by Indian government orders aimed at preventing exam paper leaks. The app was reinstated on June 23, and availability is expected to return to all users shortly. India’s government ordered the delisting under Section 69A of its Information Technology Act, a provision that grants authorities the power to block public access to digital content in the interest of national security, public order, or sovereignty. In this case, officials feared that Telegram channels were being used to circulate leaked question papers for the NEET-UG re-examination, one of the country’s most competitive and politically sensitive standardized tests. The move went beyond just app store removals. Network-level blocks were also implemented, meaning that even users who already had Telegram installed faced disruptions in some regions. The NEET-UG re-examination concluded on or before June 22. By June 23, Google had restored Telegram’s Play Store listing, and Apple followed suit with its own reinstatement around the same time. As of early August, the official Telegram Messenger a...