Government to block ProtonMail after bomb threat: Company responds to India | - Times of India
timesofindia.indiatimes.com
The Indian government has decided to block ProtonMail, an end-to-end encrypted email service, after a bomb threat was sent to private schools in Chennai. ProtonMail is working to resolve the situation and cooperate with Indian authorities. However, the company cannot directly answer to foreign law enforcement authorities.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/11998237

The IT ministry has reportedly decided to issue an order blocking end-to-end encrypted email service ProtonMail. According to a report in Hindustan Times, the government is planning to block the email service at the request of the Tamil Nadu police over a hoax bomb threat sent to at least thirteen private schools in Chennai on February 8. The report says that the decision to block ProtonMail was taken at a meeting of the 69A blocking committee on Wednesday (February 14).

A Proton spokesperson told the publication that the company has received the request from MeitY “a few days ago”. “We are currently working to resolve this situation and are investigating how we can best work together with the Indian authorities to do so. We understand the urgency of the situation and are completely clear that our services are not to be used for illegal purposes. We routinely remove users who are found to be doing so and are willing to cooperate wherever possible within international cooperation agreements,” the spokesperson said.

  • edric@lemm.eeEnglish
    1051·
    9 months ago

    When the people who know nothing about technology make the decisions about technology.

    • cmnybo@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
      592·
      9 months ago

      Maybe they should shut down phone service when someone calls in a bomb threat and shut down the postal service when someone mails one in too.

    • Stewbs@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      7·
      9 months ago

      Wish our government officials had a basic understanding of tech so they could see this and go “the fuck are we doing?”

  • Halosheep@lemm.eeEnglish
    882·
    9 months ago

    Strange they’re willing to block a service for ‘allowing’ this but somehow can’t be bothered to figure out their giant scam industry.

    • Darkassassin07@lemmy.caEnglish
      403·
      9 months ago

      Scams in India primarily target foreign nations while bringing cash into the country that then gets spent in the local economy.

      As long as they’re not targeting others within india, the authorities have little incentive to stop them.

      That’s before you get to the corruption poisoning the investigations/prosecutions that do happen.

        • Apathy Tree@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
          4·
          9 months ago

          I like to tell them “your mother must be so ashamed to have you in the family; so worthless as a breadwinner that you have to resort to theft”.

          That always riles them right up.

      • Stewbs@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
        4·
        9 months ago

        They will target anyone they can get sadly, Indians are not exempted from this and are often times, the primary targets

    • Stewbs@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      7·
      9 months ago

      Actions have been taken against the scam industry, the offices have been raided by police officers several times but once again the collective action is too little and too late

  • Gazumi@lemmy.worldEnglish
    48·
    9 months ago

    So… If someone did it the old fashioned way by telephone from a public phone, or sent out a letter, or shared leaflets, would we be looking at disconnecting public phones, stopping the postal service and banning home printers?

  • UraniumBlazer@lemm.eeEnglish
    342·
    9 months ago

    Pathetic authoritarian fucks ugggh… Please remember… India is NOT a democratic counterbalance to China. They’re just like China. The only difference is that they both hate each other.

  • Clot@lemm.eeEnglish
    27·
    9 months ago

    I swear these dumb bureaucrats and politicians would’ve banned torrent, tor, etc. too if it was possible.

  • CrayonRosary@lemmy.worldEnglish
    22·
    9 months ago

    If you don’t receive the email containing the bomb threat because you banned the email domain, does the bomb really exist?

    No! The bomb just goes away. Checkmate, terrorists.

    • Stewbs@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      14·
      9 months ago

      It really is but who knows what goes on the minds of out government’s officials lol

    • kakes@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      14·
      9 months ago

      I imagine this is something they wanted to do beforehand, and this event gave them “just” cause to pull the trigger.

    • LordBelphegor@lemm.eeEnglish
      121·
      9 months ago

      The current political party in power wants to turn India into a fascist surveillance state.

    • EpicVisionEnglish
      1·
      9 months ago

      a bit? It’s not just a bit overkill, this is absolutely brain dead.

  • Stewbs@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
    20·
    9 months ago

    Btw Internet Freedom Foundation (or the IFF) filed several RTI requests (RTI = Request to information) regarding this situation. If anyone wants to follow their progress then here’s their Mastodon account: https://mastodon.world/@[email protected]

    The IFF is a highly trustworthy and well respected organization that fights for Indians digital rights and democratic freedoms. They’ve done a lot of good work over the years, they even helped VLC to get unblocked when it was banned in India.

  • EpicVisionEnglish
    18·
    9 months ago

    Guys! I know how to get Gmail blocked in India!