The Union government on Saturday directed messaging application Telegram to take down pirated films and other copyrighted material on its platform, reported PTI.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has sought an action-taken report from the application within 15 days, according to the newspaper.

Continued non-compliance could attract legal action under the Information Technology Act, 2000, and the Information Technology Rules, the ministry added.

In March, the platform was directed to take down more than 3,000 channels linked to pirated content, Hindustan Times reported.

The notice on Saturday came a day after the Union government sought details from Telegram and Signal of the safeguards they have put in place to prevent fraud and impersonation through username-based communication features.

On Wednesday, the Centre had asked WhatsApp to pause the rollout of a similar feature.

In Saturday’s notice, the ministry told Telegram to strengthen systems to detect, report, disable access to and remove pirated content, according to the Hindustan Times.

The platform was also directed to act against repeat channels, groups, bots, accounts and administrators that repeatedly share such material.

The notice is aimed at creating a “clear shift from piecemeal takedown to platform accountability”, The Hindu quoted an unidentified official as saying.

Copyright infringement is not only a civil violation but also a criminal offence under the 1957 Copyright Act and the 1952 Cinematograph Act, PTI quoted...

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