The Indian government has imposed a temporary ban on the Telegram app in anticipation of the upcoming NEET 2026 exam after the paper leak, but people appear to be challenging the government’s ban. In fact, users on X are demonstrating their own tactics to access Telegram despite the ban. Some are using VPNs, while others are easily accessing Telegram through proxy servers. This raises the question: if ordinary people can access Telegram so easily even after the ban, how can those who leaked the paper not be able to?
It’s worth noting that Nisarg Adhikari, the 19-year-old cybersecurity researcher who exposed the CBSE website, also claims that the Telegram app has been designed in such a way that a complete ban is impossible.
Many users on X are demonstrating their ability to use Telegram even after the ban. A user named @Singlejivi is running Telegram on X via a VPN, demonstrating how without a VPN, Telegram only shows “connecting,” but once the VPN is turned on, his Telegram starts working immediately.
Similarly, a user named @deepugami is demonstrating how to access Telegram using an MTPROTO proxy. These methods are believed to bypass the government’s ban on Telegram. Nisarg Adhikari, a 19-year-old cybersecurity researcher who exposed CBSE’s shortcomings in this regard, also claims that “banning the Telegram app is impossible.”
Regarding this, he wrote on X that Telegram was designed with censorship in mind. In fact, Telegram allows its users to easily use proxies and bypass methods, making it difficult to block it completely.
In India, the responsibility for blocking any app or website lies with the Internet Service Provider.
When governments ban an app or website, the DNS systems of internet service providers like Jio and Airtel refuse to locate the server address of that app or site.
DNS can be thought of as the internet’s address book. When a user searches for a banned site or app, the DNS system doesn’t provide the address, preventing the user from accessing the site or app.
Compared to a typical app or site, blocking Telegram is more difficult because Telegram doesn’t perform direct DNS lookups. Consequently, internet service providers’ DNS systems are ineffective against this app.
Telegram fully encrypts its requests and sends them to major cloud servers like Google and Cloudflare. This also prevents ISPs from detecting that a user is trying to access Telegram.
Telegram is built on the MTProto encryption protocol technology. This technology alters its digital signature so that its traffic appears to be from a normal site. Consequently, advanced tools from telecom companies cannot distinguish Telegram. Due to MTProto’s proxy and bypass features, users are claiming to be able to use it even after the ban.