Telegram vs WhatsApp Which App is More Secure: Which feature of Telegram became the cause of controversy? Why is such a threat not considered in WhatsApp? Can Telegram’s feature be used to create fake evidence? Which is safer between Telegram and WhatsApp? What is the biggest difference between the two apps?
Telegram Ban: Before the NEET re-exam (NEET UG 2026 Re-Exam) going to be held on June 21, the government has banned the popular app Telegram. After a major revelation by the National Testing Agency (NTA), the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has banned the use of Telegram till June 22, 2026 under Section 69A of the IT Act. There is a feature of Telegram behind this whole controversy. After which the question is arising in the minds of people that what is there in Telegram, which is not there in WhatsApp? If you also use both the apps, then know here which app is safer in terms of chatting, safety, privacy and misuse and why there is no danger of Telegram in WhatsApp…
Which feature of Telegram became a problem in NEET exam?
If you use Telegram, you will know that messages sent there can be edited at any time. This feature appears to be very useful in that if any spelling goes wrong then correct it. But in the case of NEET exam, fraudsters and ‘paper mafia’ made this feature their biggest weapon. That is why the government has not only imposed a temporary ban on Telegram, but has also completely blocked its message edit feature till June 30, 2026.
How does paper leak through Telegram’s edit feature?
- A few hours before the start of the exam, the administrators of the Telegram channel used to write a simple message, any old PDF or hello-hi and post it in their group.
- As soon as the exam was over and the real question paper came in the market, these fraudsters would go to that old message and press the ‘Edit’ button and upload the PDF of the real paper in place of that simple message.
- Telegram has a rule that even after editing the message, its timestamp does not change. That is, the message changed after the exam will also look as if it was sent only 2 hours before the exam.
- After this, screenshots of these groups would be made viral on social media and claims would be made that ‘Look, we already had the paper.’ On the basis of this fake evidence, channels like ‘PAPER LEAKED NEET’ and ‘NEET MAFIA’ were cheating students and their families to the extent of ₹ 21.5 crore.
Why is there no ‘paper leak’ threat in WhatsApp?
1. Clear tag of ‘Edited’
On WhatsApp, if you edit a message after sending it, ‘Edited’ appears in clear letters right below that message. Due to this, the other person immediately comes to know that this message has been tampered later. This transparency was not working in Telegram, which was taken advantage of by fraudsters.
2. Impossible to hide identity
WhatsApp mainly works on your phone number. To join a larger group or community there, a number is usually required. On the other hand, on Telegram you can run a ‘public channel’ or ‘secret group’ of millions of people by just creating a username without sharing your mobile number. For this reason, when the Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Branch caught the interstate gang running 8 Telegram channels, a long network of fake bank accounts and unknown numbers was found behind them.
3. Limit on forwarding and file sharing
On Telegram, huge files and question papers up to 2GB can be sent to millions of people in a one-way channel. There is a strict limit on forwarding on WhatsApp and no unknown person can spread data on such a large scale without being tracked.