New Delhi: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Saturday (July 4) issued a notice to Telegram over alleged widespread dissemination of pirated films, OTT content and other audio-visual material. The ministry has directed the messaging app to take corrective action within 15 days, according to a report by The Indian Express.As per the report, the ministry has asked Telegram to strengthen its systems to detect, report, disable access to, and remove pirated films and infringing audio-visual content. It has also demanded that Telegram Act against repeat infringers, including channels, groups, bots, accounts, administrators, and other linked entities.Citing unnamed ministry officials, The Indian Express reported that the ministry has allegedly given Telegram 15 days to submit an Action Taken Report listing all measures being taken in these regards. As per a report by The New Indian Express, PTI cited officials of the ministry as saying that it had informed Telegram that copyright infringement is not only a civil violation but also a criminal offence under the Copyright Act, 1957, and the Cinematograph Act, 1952.Also read: ‘Signal Inclusion Sharpest Sign of What It’s Really About’: IFF on Govt Notices to Telegram, OthersAs per The Indian Express, the ministry also noted that continuing to make pirated content available on the app, evasive compliance, or an incomplete response may result in the government taking further action under the applicable legal framework.As per the report, the ministry also said that Telegram being an intermediary is required to “observe due diligence” under the Information Technology Act and the Information Technology Rules, and that Telegram should not be waiting for the government to identify piracy channels. A purely reactive, channel-by-channel takedown approach may not be sufficient to demonstrate due diligence as required under the IT Act, 2000, and the IT Rules, 2021, the ministry is also known to have said.Also read: Govt Blocks WhatsApp’s Username Feature, Cites Scam RiskAccording to unnamed officials cited by The Indian Express, the ministry has taken the action to protect India’s creator economy, film industry, broadcasters, OTT platforms, producers and distributors.On June 16, the Union government had invoked the emergency provisions in section 69(A) of the Information Technology Act to block Telegram in India until June 22 as well as its message editing feature until June 30, saying users were circulating “false claims of an impending paper release” as the NEET-UG re-test loomed near on June 21.Telegram became accessible in India again on June 23.