Fact Check: Movie piracy site iBomma warn Telangana Police? Here’s the truth
A screenshot claiming that the movie piracy website iBomma has issued a warning to the Telangana Police is going viral on social media.
By - M Ramesh Naik
Claim:Movie piracy website iBomma warns Telangana Police.
Fact:The screenshot of iBomma is from 2023, warning Telugu Film Industry.
Hyderabad: Cybercrime police recently dismantled what they described as the largest movie piracy network in India, arresting five key members across multiple states. On September 29, the then Hyderabad Police Commissioner C.V. Anand said the racket was responsible for leaking hundreds of films online. According to him, the Telugu Film Industry (TFI) alone lost about Rs 3,700 crore to piracy in 2024, while the wider Indian film industry recorded losses of nearly Rs 22,400 crore in 2023 from pirated content across theatres and OTT platforms.
Amid this, many social media users started circulating a screenshot claiming the iBomma website issued a warning to the Telangana Police.The viral screenshot carried a long message criticising film producers, high hero remunerations, overseas shootings, inflated budgets, and ticket hikes. It concluded with a line warning: “Stop focusing on our website or I’ll have to focus on you.”
An X user shared the screenshot captioning,"iBomma warns police. If the website is blocked, your phone numbers will be revealed says notice"(Archive)
Similar posts can be seen here and here. (Archive1, Archive2)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found the claim to be false. The viral screenshot is not recent. It dates back to 2023 and was not aimed at Telangana Police.A reverse image search of the screenshot led us to a report published by Disha on 7 September 2023. The report included the same viral screenshot and stated that the movie piracy website iBomma had warned the TFI.
We also found a report by Asianet News Telugu dated 7 September 2023, which carried the same screenshot. It said iBomma had issued a warning note to film producers, cautioning that “it will not be normal if they work against us.” This sparked huge debate at the time, as many noted it was shocking for a piracy site to openly challenge the industry.
The viral posts claiming iBomma warned the Telangana Police is false. The screenshot in question is from 2023 and was directed at the Telugu Film Industry, not the police.
