Pavel Durov Accuses Reliance Of ‘BGP Hijacking’ Telegram, Ends Up Targeting Wrong Company

Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov has escalated his criticism of India’s momentary restriction on the messaging platform by accusing a Reliance-linked community of interfering with Telegram’s web visitors. Nevertheless, consultants and web observers have raised questions on whether or not Durov might have conflated two separate Reliance entities whereas making the allegation.

The controversy comes days after the Indian authorities briefly restricted Telegram till June 22 following suggestions from the Nationwide Testing Company (NTA) and the Ministry of Training. Authorities stated the transfer was geared toward stopping the circulation of leaked materials and disrupting organised dishonest networks forward of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination. Telegram has challenged the choice earlier than the Delhi Excessive Courtroom, whereas Durov has repeatedly criticised the federal government’s motion.

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In a tweet, Durov alleged that “Indian telecom Reliance” was sabotaging entry to Telegram for customers outdoors India via a way referred to as Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) hijacking. He claimed the disruption affected customers in nations together with the UAE and prompt the incident might have been linked to aggressive pursuits involving WhatsApp.

Indian telecom Reliance is sabotaging entry to Telegram for thousands and thousands of customers OUTSIDE India (together with the UAE) by way of a rogue methodology known as BGP hijacking.

The sabotage appears intentional, as Reliance has ignored a number of studies.

This can be a part of a aggressive battle, as…

— Pavel Durov (@durov) June 16, 2026

Durov additional pointed to Meta’s funding relationship with Reliance, implying that Telegram’s rival may not directly profit from actions taken towards the platform.

The Reliance Confusion

The central concern with Durov’s allegation is that the community identifier cited in publicly circulated routing information seems to be AS18101, an autonomous system traditionally related to Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom), not Reliance Jio. That distinction is critical.

Reliance communications has been out of enterprise for years. 🤦🏽‍♂️

The Reliance Industries Ltd’s cellular enterprise that has partnered with Meta for some initiatives is named Jio.@grok are you able to please clarify this to him?

— Vineeth Naik 🇮🇳 (@vineeth_naik) June 16, 2026

Reliance Communications, previously managed by Anil Ambani, exited the buyer cellular enterprise years in the past and entered insolvency proceedings in 2019. Reliance Jio, then again, is India’s largest telecom operator and is a part of Reliance Industries, led by Mukesh Ambani.

Meta invested in Jio Platforms in 2020, creating the hyperlink that Durov referenced in his social media posts.

A number of community observers famous that whereas AS18101 appeared in routing information linked to Telegram prefixes, the autonomous system has traditionally been related to Reliance Communications relatively than Reliance Jio. This has led to questions on whether or not Durov incorrectly attributed the incident to the mistaken firm.

What Is BGP Hijacking?

BGP serves because the routing system of the web, directing visitors between networks internationally.

When a community incorrectly publicizes possession of web routes that don’t belong to it, visitors will be misdirected, intercepted, or disrupted. Such incidents are generally known as BGP hijacks.

Nevertheless, web infrastructure consultants warning that not each uncommon route announcement is proof of deliberate sabotage. Related incidents can happen due to routing errors, misconfigurations, outdated filtering practices, or operational errors.

Public routing information cited by community observers confirmed Telegram-related prefixes being introduced via AS18101 across the interval when India’s Telegram restrictions got here into impact. Whereas this means a routing anomaly, it doesn’t by itself set up intent.

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Jio Rejects Allegations

Reliance Jio has categorically denied any involvement in BGP route manipulation.

In line with studies, the corporate stated there was no misconfiguration or manipulation of routes originating from its community and pressured that it follows international web routing requirements. Jio additionally rejected strategies that it had tried to intervene with Telegram’s accessibility.

The denial provides one other layer to the controversy as a result of Durov’s allegation connects a community concern to broader claims about competitors within the messaging market.

Telegram Ban Provides Gasoline To Dispute

The routing controversy emerged towards the backdrop of India’s momentary Telegram restriction.

Durov has argued that the federal government’s transfer punishes greater than 150 million customers whereas failing to cease examination leaks. In line with him, the fabric merely migrated to different platforms after Telegram was restricted. Telegram has additionally highlighted efforts to take away channels linked to examination scams and paper leak operations.

On the identical time, the corporate has been combating the federal government’s motion in court docket whereas in search of to display that it’s cooperating with efforts to curb misuse of the platform.

For now, the larger query shouldn’t be whether or not a routing anomaly occurred. Proof suggests uncommon route bulletins did happen. The unanswered query is whether or not the incident resulted from a technical misconfiguration, a legacy community concern involving Reliance Communications, or one thing extra deliberate.

Till unbiased technical investigations set up intent, Durov’s accusation stays a critical allegation relatively than a undeniable fact. What is obvious, nevertheless, is {that a} dispute that started over NEET examination integrity has now expanded right into a broader debate involving web infrastructure, platform accountability, telecom networks, and competitors in India’s digital ecosystem.

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