![]() Is applicable and enforceable across India or just in J&K (Jammu and Kashmir). Moreover, ambiguity exists around the territorial scope and extent of the ban, as it is unclear if the ban Union of India and Section 69A Information "denial of these rights violates Shreya Singhal v. The Free Software Community of India (FSCI) argues that Hearing were not provided to these 14 mobile apps. Reasoned blocking orders and a pre-decisional Pay, we look to preserve and protect those rights, and to work with governments, journalists, non-profits, academic researchersĪnd the rest of the tech industry to rise to the challenge of reducing those harms." Indian Open Source Community files complaintīased on statements like the one from Element who say they have not been contacted about the blockage indicate that "Undermining end-to-end encryption is an attack on people’s basic human right to privacy and security of communications. German, Swedish, UK and US governments as customers." "In actual fact, end-to-end encryption strengthens national security which is why Element has various parts of the French, Is completely flawed it just removes ordinary people’s ability to communicate in private which leaves them vulnerable toĪll types of surveillance, crime and subjugation." "Some governments see undermining encryption as the most effective way to combat the ills of terrorism or other illegal behaviour. Or, as Phil Zimmermann put it: "If privacy is outlawed, only outlaws will have privacy."Įlement's arguments go into the same direction: We must not take privacy away from allĬitizens as this would make the web as such completely insecure. These governments tend to neglect that encryption brings safety - to all of us. On Press Freedom Day - so around the same time as India issued the ban on these 14 apps. Iran and Russia where encrypted communication tools are blocked on a massive scale already.Ĭoincidentally, we in a coalition with 45+ organizations warned against exactly such a development in democratic countries in an open letter If India - as the first democratically elected government - goes down the same path as authoritarian governments like This statement makes India's argumentation on why the block was necessary look less convincing. Indeed our Trust & Safety team works with governments to build safer secure communicationsįor everyone while ensuring user privacy and protecting end-to-end encryption." "While Element never compromises end-to-end encryption or user privacy, we have been contacted by Indian authorities in the past and addressed them in aĬonstructive fashion (typically responding same-day). Regarding the issue explaining that they do reply to Indian government requests: However, Element already published a statement The reason the officials giveįor justifying the ban is that these apps would not have "any representatives in India and cannot beĬontacted for seeking information as mandated by the Indian laws". The block included Free Software apps, such as Briar and Element, which are now banned in India. These mobile apps aid the "terrorists" and their affiliates to engage in activities which are prejudicial to sovereigntyĪnd integrity of India and can disturb peace and harmony." Provide anonymity to their users and their features make it tough to resolve the entities associated with them. The 14 apps were banned because they were being used by "terrorists" and their supporters in Jammu and Kashmir,Īccording to central intelligence agencies in India.Ī source told the Indian Express that "the intelligence agencies also informed the MHA that most of these apps are designed to These apps have been blocked under Section 69A of the Indian Were blocked in India following the recommendation of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) beginning of May. According to the Indian Express 14 mobileĪpplications that provided end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) messaging services orĮnabled peer-to-peer (P2P) messaging, namely "Wickrme, Mediafire, Briar, BChat, Nandbox, Conion, IMO, Element, Second line, Zangi, Threema, Crypviser, Enigma, and Safeswiss",
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