
Multiple service providers are blocking DuckDuckGo in India - mehtology
https://thenextweb.com/in/2020/07/01/multiple-service-providers-are-blocking-duckduckgo-in-india/
======
suchitpuri
Gmail, Google Play Store, Google Cloud, Google Drive, and Google Meet also
suffered because of the Airtel Issue. DuckDuckGo's blockage could also be
because of the same issue.

[https://www.91mobiles.com/hub/gmail-play-store-and-other-
goo...](https://www.91mobiles.com/hub/gmail-play-store-and-other-google-
services-affected-for-some-airtel-users/)

~~~
thewhitetulip
This is a vicious cycle actually.

Because there is precedent that the current govt bans everything that critizes
them, people get hyper when some glitch happens.

then all the right wingers descend to blame the cynics 'oh they are anti
national'

and cynics become worse cynics, 'see they ban everything and then abuse
everyone who questions'

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wobbly_bush
> Meanwhile, DuckDuckGo confirmed on Twitter that it’s looking into the issue
> and suggested Android users change their DNS provider to get around the
> issue.

If changing DNS works, how is this blocked by the ISP? Seems to indicate there
is some other technical problem. Treat the rest of the article, and specially
with tweets, with skepticism.

~~~
prashnts
Haven’t been back in India for a while, but the DNS blocking happens all the
time. One big provider (AirTel) even injected ads in non-https pages quite
frequently.

Anecdotally, I had a cable service in Delhi where the provider started
throttling me if I didn’t make any request to their dns server in some
arbitrary time interval. So changing your dns might not be the fix (i fixed it
by sending random queries to their server...).

~~~
ignoramous
> One big provider (AirTel) even injected ads in non-https pages quite
> frequently.

...and in "HTTPS" pages "secured" by cloudflare.
[https://medium.com/@karthikb351/airtel-is-sniffing-and-
censo...](https://medium.com/@karthikb351/airtel-is-sniffing-and-censoring-
cloudflares-traffic-in-india-and-they-don-t-even-know-it-90935f7f6d98)

~~~
jwatt
It would have been nice to have a more proactive response in the original
discussion on this:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12092188](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12092188)

------
numToStr
Indian here. Just want to say that Indian Govt. is a piece of sh*t.

They don't understand a literal about technology. They want to protect
citizen's privacy but they don't want to promote the thing that provides
privacy.

Also, their official websites looks like they will die at any moment.

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sundarurfriend
Banned on ACT Broadband too, now. I get a "PR_END_OF_FILE_ERROR" which is the
same error given on banned porn and other sites too. I feel like I'm missing a
finger, it's been so long since I've regularly had to use any other search
engine.

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noarchy
Canada here. I currently cannot load DDG unless I'm connected to a US VPN
(haven't tried other countries yet).

Edit: the site is accessible for me again at 14h30, Eastern time.

~~~
ResearchAtPlay
I am also in Canada and cannot load DDG via my university's vpn, but DDG works
fine on my home internet connection.

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throwawaysea
Is there any precedent for this in India (blocking a search engine or other
'utility' website, as opposed to specific content)?

~~~
httgp
They block websites and URLs all the time. Often times, there won’t be any
justification (or even logic) behind the action — they’ve even blocked
gist.github.com once.

------
throwfghyy585
Looks like a glitch (as the reddit thread indicates). DDG works fine on BSNL.

Note that r/India is very intolerant of views which are pro-India, and has
consequently become an echo chamber for endia folk. I'd take anything coming
out of this subred with a bucket of salt.

~~~
unmole
The fact that it works on BSNL means absolutely nothing. The implementation of
blocking across ISPs is extremely inconsistent:
[https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.08590](https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.08590)

> Note that r/India is very intolerant of views which are pro-India

/r/india heavily skews liberal and anti-Modi. That is not the same thing as
being intolerant of pro-India views.

~~~
thewhitetulip
> /r/india heavily skews liberal and anti-Modi. That is not the same thing as
> being intolerant of pro-India views.

Oh it is now anti Modi. I remember back in 2014 when every other comment and
post was 'wow Modi will transform this country, Mumbai and Delhi will become
New York'

I used to get banned just for asking 'how will he get the money to do so?' or
for asking proof on past experiences as the PM's CM term of the state of
Gujarat wasn't exactly as promising but /r/india had lost their mind
worshipping Modi and hating Congress.

They now hate both Congress and BJP :D

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bprasanna
It doesn't work for me as well! Not sure whats the reason behind this
blocking! For now using bing as DDG uses it in the background!

------
kburman
Working for me on Airtel. I think it's more of a glitch.

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moneytide1
I just saw a billboard for it on a 45mph stretch through a medium sized city.

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sbmthakur
Working fine on my ION broadband, but it's blocked on Jio.

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villgax
It's working now.

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Marc_Bryan
India, ruled by some big(!) heads who doesn't understand a dot in technology.
They are governed by impulsive decisions of the policy makers and it's a name
sake democracy. No real freedom of speech is allowed there AFAIK. Govt /
Private / Policing is just too much and a lot of gag order as well. They just
can't stand anything and consequences could cost a life too! Technology is
being used by most of the population who doesn't even know what is behind the
scenes. ISPs utilise it do whatever they want and there is a ruling body known
as TRAI / DOT which doesn't care to explain the rationale behind any of their
decisions for blocking / banning etc., God save that country!

~~~
wobbly_bush
> there is a ruling body known as TRAI / DOT which doesn't care to explain the
> rationale behind any of their decisions for blocking / banning etc.

This is a big misconception in India. The URL blocking for the major part is
ordered by courts and not the government -
[https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/ban-porn-
sit...](https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/ban-porn-sites-or-
lose-license-high-court-to-isps-1351836-2018-09-28)

~~~
fennecfoxen
> The URL blocking for the major part is ordered by courts and not the
> government

I can't speak to TRAI and DOT involvement, but the statement that courts are
not part of the "government" is an over-technical definition centered around
Parliamentary technicalities that happen to use the word, and of limited
utility here. The courts are very much part of the apparatus which governs the
people of a nation.

~~~
wobbly_bush
I see where you are coming from but the distinction is important because a lot
of times these discussions are followed up by discussion about voting for
certain political parties with suggestions of one political party
banning/censoring more than other political parties. If one doesn't focus on
the exact points of change where it's possible, complaining against the "big
government" is going to be a very slow process to bring change.

~~~
toast0
Some group presumably passed the laws the court is enforcing? (Unless they're
interpretting the constitution to require blocking DDG, I dunno). Seems like
you would want to vote against those people if this is your important issue.

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muktabh
Just checked, works for me on 2 different ISPs. This looks like fake news.

