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Indian Express
04-07-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Keep taking down offensive email addresses: Karnataka HC to Switzerland-based Proton Mail
While hearing Switzerland-based Proton Mail's appeal to reconsider an earlier order banning the email service in India, the Karnataka High Court Thursday directed the company to keep taking down URLs sending offensive emails referred to in the original petition. In April, the Karnataka High Court had issued directions to the Centre to begin the process to block Proton Mail after M Moser Design Associates complained that several of its women employees received 'obscene' and 'AI-generated material' through Proton Mail. The Karnataka High Court had ordered at the time, 'Mandamus issued to respondents – Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) and Ministry of Communications to initiate proceedings in terms of Section 69A of the Information Technology Act 2000 read with Rule 10 of the IT Procedure and Safeguards of Blocking of Access to Information by Public Access Rules, 2009 to block ProtonMail.' Last year, the Delhi High Court had also directed the police and the Centre to examine the use of Proton Mail in India. During the hearing on Thursday, Moser's counsel had argued that Proton Mail's servers were located outside the country to avoid the provisions of the IT Act, and only the Swiss government has access to them. Proton Mail argued that there were issues with the service of summons in the initial case. The counsel of the Union Government stated that proceedings to examine whether the email service should be blocked were underway, and the exercise was expected to take about eight weeks. Moser's counsel Jatin Sehgal complained that they were 'still receiving emails from the portal.' In response to this, the high court told Proton Mail, 'If he is receiving emails, he will give the URL to you. You will block it.' The court directed that complaints be submitted to the nodal officer of Proton Mail dealing with these issues. The matter will be heard next on August 20.
Hindustan Times
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Karnataka HC directs Centre to ban encrypted email service ‘Proton Mail'
The Karnataka high court on Tuesday directed the Union government to block 'Proton Mail,' an encrypted email service, based in Switzerland and available in India. The court's direction came on a petition filed by a Bengaluru based firm, M Moser Design, seeking a direction to the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to ban proton mail after its employees and clients received several emails through Proton Mail IDs with morphed pictures, AI generated deepfake images, and sexually explicit content. Before reserving its orders on Moser Design's petition, justice Nagaprasanna had gone through some of such emails received by the firm and remarked that the content was akin to 'porn' and said since the issue was a serious one, the centre must be directed to take appropriate steps. At the time, the court had also asked the Union government why it cannot block all such instant messaging services and Virtual Private Networks (VPN)that do not have physical servers in India and are not amenable to Indian laws. The petitioner firm also told the court that in the past, Proton mail had been used to send bomb threats to some schools in India. It said that while the local police was already investigating into the matter, it was yet to identify the accused since, Proton had refused to give details of the sender of such emails. The petitioner firm's counsel, Jatin Sehgal told the court that on its website, Proton mail even guided users on how to bypass monitoring by authorities in India and that it declared that it had removed physical VPNs from India in 2022 after the union government made it mandatory for VPN providers with servers in India to store user data. Additional Solicitor General of India, Aravind Kamath, who appeared for the Centre, however, said at the time that while India has a 'mutual legal assistance treaty' with Switzerland, since a criminal investigation into the petitioner firm's police complaint was already on, the investigating officer will now have to follow provisions of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita and request the magistrate court to issue a 'Letter Rogatory,' which is a formal, written request to a court in another country to seek judicial assistance. Kamath however, added that if the high court issued specific directions for blocking, the government will comply. The court then said it was inclined to exercise its jurisdiction under Article 482 of the CrPC and pass orders. A detailed order of the High court is awaited.
India Today
29-04-2025
- Business
- India Today
Proton Mail faces ban in India after Karnataka HC order
The Karnataka High Court has directed the Central Government to take legal steps and block access to Proton Mail in India. This decision came after a Bengaluru-based company, M Moser Design Associates India Pvt Ltd, approached the court with a complaint. The company said that unknown people were using Proton Mail to send vulgar and abusive emails about one of its female employees. These emails included AI-generated deepfake images and explicit content, and were sent to other employees and even petitioner told the court that despite filing a police complaint in November 2024, the investigation had made little progress. This, according to the company, was because Proton Mail refuses to share user data and does not cooperate with Indian law enforcement. Proton Mail, which is operated by a Swiss company called Proton AG, is known for its strong privacy features and anonymity. The court was informed that the service allows users to create an account in 30 seconds without any ID court was also told that Proton Mail had removed its servers from India, making it even harder for Indian authorities to take action. The petitioner argued that although the company claims it does not operate in India, it allows users to choose India as a server location on its platform — giving the impression that it operates within the Justice M. Nagaprasanna, who heard the case, directed the Centre to act under Section 69A of the IT Act, 2000, along with Rule 10 of the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking Access of Information by Public) Rules, 2009, to block access to Proton Mail.'A mandamus is issued to Respondents 2, 4, and 5 (Central government authorities) to issue proceedings in terms of Section 69A of IT Act 2008 read with rule 10 of the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking Access Of Information By Public) Rules, 2009 to block Proton Mail bearing in mind the observations made in the course of the order,' the court the Centre completes the process of blocking Proton Mail, the High Court has also ordered that all offending URLs mentioned in the petition be blocked petitioner's lawyer, Jatin Sehgal, claimed that Proton Mail has become a threat not just to individuals but to national safety. He also pointed out that in recent months, bomb threats sent through Proton Mail had caused concern in Indian schools. He said, 'It's not only I that have suffered, it's a national threat.'Responding to the plea, the Additional Solicitor General (ASG), Aravind Kamath, told the court that while the Centre can begin blocking action, any request for data from Switzerland must be routed through proper legal channels under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT). He clarified that it is up to the investigating officer and the trial court to start that court has reserved the full judgement, which will be released later.
