Telegram link to NEET, UGC NET paper leaks unsurprising: Experts

NEW DELHI: Last week, while addressing the paper-leak controversy in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET 2024) and the University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test (UGC NET 2024), union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan cited Telegram as one of the reasons for paper leaks. While the examination systems set up by the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the NEET exam and UGC NET, allowed for paper leaks, the messaging application, Telegram, has long been on the radar of experts, especially those working in cyber law.

A host of features make Telegram the go-to app for sharing of files that would be difficult on other platforms. These files include pirated films and books, pornography and in the present case, leaked question papers. Telegram’s lack of a physical presence in India – it has no India office – makes it uniquely difficult to hold accountable or regulate, as Athena K Solomon found out.

Now a faculty member at National Law University (NLU) Odisha, Solomon had filed a public interest litigation (PIL) case at the Kerala High Court seeking a temporary ban on Telegram in 2019. Then still a student at National Law School of India University (NLSIU) Bangalore, she had reacted to widespread rumours of child pornography being circulated via the app.

Telegram didn’t – and still does not – have an office in India. “Other social media platforms had a certain accountability but Telegram did not have that, which is why I filed the case …They don’t have any office in India. The issue that we faced was that even sending a notice was expensive. We had to translate the notices. So, even a court takes a long time to get to them, even their replies took a lot of time. If they have a person in India then some sort of accountability can be brought in, I feel,” said Solomon. The current headquarters of Telegram has been in Dubai since 2017.

“The reality is that Telegram does not have an office in India and consequently they don’t respond to the requests of Indian law enforcement at all or not quickly enough. So, if someone wants to commit an online crime, Telegram is the best bet because the chances of Telegram entities sharing information is going to be very remote. That is why the majority of the paper leaks invariably has a connection with Telegram,” said Pavan Duggal, Supreme Court advocate and cyber law expert.

Once the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, were notified, Telegram appointed a grievance officer. In 2023, the court asked Solomon to approach the grievance officer but by that time she was caught up with her studies.

“In one aspect, Telegram is good because there is no curb on free speech and expression. The other side of this is that there are things that happen there which are against the public interest,” said Solomon.

Telegram app features

Telegram, the messaging platform founded in Russia in 2013, has over 900 million monthly users, with its largest user base in India.

Telegram also has many features that give it an edge over other messaging platforms. For instance, while WhatsApp restricts a public group to 1,024 members, a Telegram group can have up to 2 lakh members making it easier to broadcast files to an audience about 195 times the size possible on WhatsApp. Moreover, unlike Whatsapp and even Gmail, which restricts the maximum file size that can be shared, Telegram allows the sharing of up to 2 GB at a time.

While the actual degree of privacy allowed has been debated – some experts have said that IP addresses are revealed – certain settings allow the user to conceal their phone numbers and kill exchanges.

The upshot is this: unlike websites which can be shut down, Telegram groups engaging in illegal activities or passing around contraband digital files with illegal activity are harder to trace as one can be dissolved and another can crop up in its place within seconds.

NEET Scandal: Students on Telegram

A large number of students already rely on Telegram to access important academic books. This became especially common after the Delhi High Court ordered SciHub, which was the preferred website for students for accessing paywalled journals, to stop publishing new books and journals on its website till the ongoing case was resolved.

“It’s a very common practice to access Telegram to download content. Because everything is available for free there. There are certain channels that students use for downloading books and previous years’ question papers. Usually, what medical students do is that they purchase the hard copy of Indian authors but for international authors, which are costlier, they download a soft copy from Telegram or some other website,” said Akshat Mittal, president of Medical Students Network, Haryana.

Students also rely on the platforms to get old question papers and groups that post quizzes from these to help students study.

So crucial is Telegram to the exam-prep sector, in 2022, a coaching institute in Chhattisgarh and the owners of a Telegram channel were engaged in a legal battle over the alleged theft of notes.

“It’s just about finding the right group. There are also groups where you can find certain books that you might otherwise need institute access to. So, if there is a certain book that you want you can message them in the group and they will probably find it and upload,” said a student who appeared for the UGC NET exam for linguistics, asking not to be named.

Telegram app a hunting ground

The features and easy access to students make Telegram a preference for cybercriminals as well. Prior to every major examination, there are messages in one or more Telegram groups claiming to have the leaked copy of the exam question paper.

When a student shows interest, the criminals scam them by asking for payment in the form of ‘gift cards’, to remain anonymous, and once that is secured, will either stop responding to the student or send an old question paper, said a student asking not to be named.

This is so common that at first, many reacted to news of the NEET question paper leak on Telegram with scepticism.

The NEET UG 2024 for admission to medical colleges was held on May 5 And the UGC NET June session on June 18. The NEET UG has been at the centre of several controversies and a retest had to be held for 1,563 candidates. The UGC NET has been nullified altogether. The alleged paper leaks are now a subject of a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe and the NTA itself is being examined by a high-level panel.

NEET Paper Leak: IT rules and Telegram

The IT Rules 2021 require platforms such as Telegram to file a monthly compliance report disclosing information on complaints received, actions taken, content removal, and “any other relevant information”. The rules also require platforms, as part of additional due diligence, to hire a chief compliance officer and a grievance officer who is a resident of India.

Telegram has only published details of a grievance officer in its website; he is not even based in India. As per a petition filed in the Chhattisgarh High Court in 2022, Telegram’s grievance officer is based in London.

Cybersecurity experts point out that the messaging platform not having a physical presence in India makes it difficult for the government or courts to get them to comply. It also emboldens cybercriminals who believe the messaging platform is less likely to comply with government rules and leak their identity.

Further, the responsibility for taking action falls on the platform. While there seems to be a monitoring mechanism from the platform, it tends to be more proactive in instances that involve corporations and copyright laws, students have noted. Groups that share books and movies, for instance, tend to be taken down more quickly.

“Usually there are different groups [for textbooks]. What happens is that these groups get dissolved because of copyright issues. If there is a group today, it might get dissolved tomorrow. So we have to hop onto different groups everytime,” said Mittal.

However, other illegal activities tend to fly under the radar.

“Movie groups get taken down quickly because maybe corporations are involved there. But when it comes to pornography and paper leaks, it might not happen like that because there might be very few people who report it,” said Solomon.

NEET, UGC NET Scandal: 'Political will'

Cybersecurity experts said a “political will” of the leaders is needed to ensure more accountability from the platforms to stop scams and paper leaks targeting students.

“In today’s context, the platform owners cannot say I’m not going to be responsible for what goes on in my platform. The platforms have to take active, due-diligence steps to prevent violation of law in its platform. You will need to show more accountability, transparency, more responsibility to show what due-diligence you have done,” said Duggal. “That is the direction the IT Rules 2021 took…The laws have not been implemented effectively, but should this be implemented to its logical conclusion, I do expect a cogent, concrete changes in the landscape. Because if the platform owners took responsibility to prevent misuse, abuse, scams, and deepfakes on its platform then the chances of these cyber offences will relatively become less. Which will make cyberspace more secure and reliable.”