Telegram CEO Says Reliance & Meta Hijacked Internet Routes To Sabotage Telegram, Lobby Ban In India
New Delhi: Following the government’s ban on social media platform Telegram during the NEET examination, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov on Wednesday, June 17, alleged that the Indian telecom company Reliance is sabotaging access to Telegram for millions of users outside India, including the UAE, via a rogue method called BGP hijacking.
In a post on X, Durov alleged that the sabotage seems intentional, as Reliance has ignored multiple reports. “This may be part of a competitive war, as Reliance is partially owned by Meta — the company behind WhatsApp,” the Telegram CEO said, adding that the network operators are advised to reject unauthorized BGP announcements from Reliance (AS18101) to prevent route hijacks and ensure stable Internet access for their users.
Read Also: NTA Calls NEET Papers On Telegram, WhatsApp As Fake; Warns Of Strict Action
He further noted that such abuse of global Internet routing is alarming. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Reliance/WhatsApp were also behind the recent lobbying effort to ban Telegram in India,” the Telegram CEO wrote on X.
Indian telecom Reliance is sabotaging access to Telegram for millions of users OUTSIDE India (including the UAE) via a rogue method called BGP hijacking.
The sabotage seems intentional, as Reliance has ignored multiple reports.
This may be part of a competitive war, as…
— Pavel Durov (@durov) June 16, 2026
Read Also: Govt Can Soon Access Your WhatsApp, Emails, & Social Media Under New Income Tax Bill 2025
Meta has reportedly invested heavily in Reliance, but it does not go the other way around—Reliance has not invested in Meta.
The two companies have built a massive, multi-layered strategic partnership, primarily centered around Meta investing in Reliance’s tech ecosystems.
In April 2020, Meta (then known as Facebook) made a monumental $5.7 billion (₹43,574 crore) investment into Jio Platforms, the digital and telecom arm of Reliance Industries. This transaction gave Meta a 9.99% stake, making it the largest minority shareholder in Jio.
The Telegram CEO in an earlier post criticised India’s ban on the platform and wrote, “India’s IT ministry banned Telegram for one week because some users shared leaked exam questions. This punishes 150M+ ordinary Telegram users in India — not the insiders who leaked the exam materials. And the ban hasn’t stopped anything. The leaks just moved to other apps.”
