Indian court orders blocking of Proton Mail

Case details & perceived overreach

• Employees of an architecture firm allegedly received obscene emails from a Proton Mail address; the firm asked courts to unmask the sender.
• Proton, bound by Swiss law, won’t respond directly to foreign authorities and did not cooperate; Swiss authorities must be involved first.
• The Karnataka High Court responded by ordering Proton Mail blocked across India, prompting disbelief that an entire service is banned over a few offensive messages.
• Some ask whether the same would happen to Gmail; others note big US providers generally comply with data requests, so likely not.

Indian courts, law, and corruption

• Commenters describe Indian courts as slow, inconsistent, and corrupt, with cases (e.g., property, divorce) dragging for decades; “the process is the punishment.”
• Clarification that a state High Court’s national-order can apply countrywide; appeals go to the Supreme Court, which has a huge backlog.
• The judiciary has a history of blanket blocks (YouTube, Wikipedia were nearly or actually targeted), so this ruling is seen as consistent with past overreach.

India’s political trajectory vs China

• Many frame this as another step in India’s drift toward a surveillance-heavy, illiberal democracy: VPN logging rules, internet shutdowns, Aadhaar, censorship, pressure on media and opponents.
• A recurring comparison: India has less freedom than Western democracies but far less “competent” state capacity than China.
• Others push back: praise for Indian infrastructure gains; warnings against admiring “despotic efficiency” (China’s censorship, repression, disasters, corruption).

Privacy, Proton Mail, and legality

• Proton is praised for refusing direct foreign requests and for offering Tor access; critics note it has cooperated with Swiss authorities before, which defenders say is limited and often litigated.
• Debate over whether past cooperation “taints” Proton compared with smaller providers that claim never to have handed over data.

Effectiveness and technical scope of the ban

• Many argue the ban is technically weak: Proton users are VPN-heavy, Proton sells a VPN, and Gmail/Outlook users can still receive Proton-origin emails.
• Discussion of what “blocking” might entail in India: DNS-level blocks, IP filtering, app store pressure, but no China-style Great Firewall.
• Some suggest the real goal is symbolic and investigative: making the use of strong-privacy tools itself suspicious evidence.

Decentralization, surveillance, and civil liberties

• The case is cited alongside WhatsApp surveillance claims and Pegasus reports as evidence of a growing surveillance state.
• Calls for a decentralized or “uncensorable” internet are tempered by arguments that once such systems are popular, states will regulate or repress them, and criminals will exploit them.
• Overall tone: mix of anger, resignation, and a sense that this ban will strengthen Proton’s reputation more than it will protect anyone.