Indian courts have ordered the nation to block proton mail, a encrypted email provider.
On Tuesday, the Karnataka High Court directed the Indian government to block Proton Mail, a popular email service known for its enhanced security, following a legal complaint filed by New Delhi-based M Moser Design Associates. Local businesses alleged that employees received emails containing indecent and vulgar content sent via Proton Mail.
During a Tuesday hearing streamed on YouTube, Judge M Nagaprasanna ordered the Indian government to “block Proton Mail with observations made in the course of the order in mind.”
In a complaint filed in January, the New Delhi-based company reportedly refused to share details about the offensive email sender despite the police complaint, and therefore called for restrictions or blocking of proton mail in India.
Additional Attorney General Aravind Kamas, representing the Indian government, previously told the High Court that the government may have a limited role in addressing petitioners’ concerns, and proposed that the criminal court could seek the necessary information from Swiss authorities since petitioners filed their complaints.
Proton Mail blocking is not yet enabled based on a check on TechCrunch on the Proton Mail website in India. TechCrunch will contact Proton Mail for comments and will update this story if there is a reply.
This is Proton Mail facing the latest legitimate tasks in India, the second ruling aimed at blocking encrypted email services from operations in the country.
Last year, a police station in southern Tamil Nadu tried to block Proton Mail after it was discovered that email services were used to send hoax bomb threats to local schools. The Indian government’s IT ministry reportedly notified the internet provider to block Proton Mail at the request of law enforcement. However, Swiss federal authorities stepped in to prevent the blocking of proton mail from taking effect.
“Blocking access to Proton Mail will prevent law-abiding citizens from communicating safely and will not prevent cybercriminals from sending threats to other email services, particularly if the perpetrator is outside of India,” Proton said at the time.
Nevertheless, in October 2024, the Delhi High Court called on the State Police and the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Indian Government to investigate alleged use of Proton Mail across the country. Additional counsel Kamas had assured the Karnataka High Court to investigate the observations of the Delhi High Court regarding the use of Proton Mail in India.
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