India must review safe harbour rules after Russia’s move against Telegram founder: Experts

Founder and CEO of Telegram Pavel Durov

With Russia’s domestic security agency charging Telegram founder Pavel Durov with aiding terrorism and placing him on an international wanted list, legal experts in India said it was time to review the country’s intermediary liability regime to ensure companies do not misuse “safe harbour” protections.

Speaking to businessline, N S Nappinai, Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court and founder of Cyber Saathi, said there was “rampant misunderstanding” of the scope of Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, resulting in abuse and weak enforcement.

“Telegram has been misused for many a crime. They needed to review their platform and take proactive measures to curb misuse. Merely relying on safe harbour provisions in some jurisdictions was inherently a flawed approach. One should hope that with such actions from some jurisdictions, the chat app will improve its preventive and protective measures,” she said.

In the Indian context, the government should first ensure that existing laws are effectively enforced against intermediaries, including messaging platforms. “It may also be expedient to review and recast intermediary definitions and liabilities,” she added.

Tighten state control

Reports said the Russian action is part of a long-running effort to tighten state control over the Internet that has intensified since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Durov, who was born in Russia, now holds French and UAE citizenship and lives in Dubai.

The Indian government had recently banned Telegram for a week during the NEET-UG examination over alleged paper leaks. Durov had criticised the move, saying: “The ban hasn’t stopped anything. The leaks just moved to other apps.”

Mahesh Uppal, Director at ComFirst (India), said it was difficult to determine whether Russia’s action was driven solely by law enforcement or political considerations.

“Telegram has been talked about in the context of people abusing it for illegal activities. It is very difficult to say whether there is something new that has emerged or whether the Russian government has decided to act on existing complaints,” he said.

Security grounds

From India’s perspective, he noted that the government already has powers under the IT Act to act against platforms on national security grounds. “For example, TikTok was banned some time back,” he added.

Mishi Choudhary, technology lawyer and founder of Software Freedom Law Center India (SFLC), said: “There is no direct impact on users in India. But if Russia, France and other jurisdictions continue taking increasingly aggressive positions toward platform executives, Indian policymakers may point to an emerging international trend. The real point is how to address genuine law enforcement concerns without undermining encryption, privacy and due process.”

Published on July 29, 2026