Telegram shares user info with Delhi High Court in copyright case

The plea was filed by Neetu Singh and KD Campus, seeking to restrain users from sharing their videos, lectures, and books on Telegram. The matter will be heard again on February 14 next year

Telegram — a popular freemium cross-platform messaging application (app) — has disclosed the administrator names, phone numbers, and internet protocol (IP) addresses of the channels sharing study materials of KD Campus and their teacher Neetu Singh for competitive examinations before the Delhi High Court (HC) on November 24.

This was done in compliance with the August 30 order of the same court, saying courts in India can direct a messaging app to disclose copyright-infringing information.

The plea was filed by Neetu Singh and KD Campus, seeking to restrain users from sharing their videos, lectures, and books on Telegram.

The HC on August 30 rejected Telegram’s argument that it cannot share the data related to the creators or users of the channels as its data was stored on the servers in Singapore and the law there does not allow it to disclose such information.

“Courts in India would be perfectly justified in directing Telegram, which runs its massive operations in India to adhere to the Indian law and to orders passed by Indian courts for disclosure of relevant information relating to infringers. Infringers cannot be permitted to seek shelter under Telegram’s policies merely on the ground that its physical server is in Singapore,” the court said in its ruling.

The court noted that although Telegram was blocking the channels displaying infringing material, the users were creating new channels in private mode to share this information.

“If the protection of copyright has not evolved in line with the changing times, it will have a chilling effect on the progressive initiatives taken by educators in sharing their materials and ensuring accessibility,” the court had observed.

Justice Prathiba M Singh said on November 24 that the phone numbers and IP addresses of some of the channels available with Telegram have been submitted to the court.

“Neither the plaintiffs nor their counsel shall disclose the said data to any third party, except for the present proceedings. To this end, the disclosure to the governmental authorities/police is permissible," said the court.

The court directed the registry to keep the data submitted by Telegram in a sealed cover.

The matter will be heard again on February 14 next year.

This order has now set a precedent in which the courts can seek disclosure of user information from encrypted apps and platforms in cases of copyright infringement.

“This is a welcome step. No social media platform or app should be above the law and exempt from disclosing illegal information. However, it has to be done on a case-by-case basis and/or when safeguards are in place, including those related to privacy,” said Bharat Chugh, former judge and now Supreme Court advocate.

In the previous hearing, the court had also observed that in the present age of Cloud computing and diminishing national boundaries in data storage, conventional concepts of territoriality cannot be strictly applied.

“The dynamic evolution of law is essential to ensure appropriate remedies in the case of violation of copyright and other intellectual property laws,” the court order said.

Mathew Chacko, partner at Spice Route Legal, said the order is fabulous from a pure intellectual property prism.

“This is a much-needed way to crack down on widespread privacy on Telegram. I hope that privacy safeguards will be maintained, otherwise this could spiral into a constitutional/data privacy issue,” he added.

This order was also cited in a case filed by Amul for the removal of the ‘defamatory content’ against it on social media and YouTube.