Karnataka HC directs Union Govt to take steps for blocking ’Proton Mail’ in India | Company Business News-OxBig News Network

The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday, April 29, directed the Union Government to initiate legal proceedings to block Switzerland based Proton Mail in India.

Justice M Nagaprasanna, hearing the matter, also directed: “Till such proceedings are taken up and decided by the Union of India, the offending URLs shall be blocked forthwith,” reported legal news outlet Live Law.

Proton Mail is currently facing a ban in India primarily due to its alleged misuse for sending hoax bomb threats to multiple schools in Chennai in February 2024.

Why the Karnataka High Court took action against Proton Mail?

Justice M Nagaprasanna allowed the petition filed by M Moser Design Associated India Pvt Ltd, seeking a direction to the Union Government to take steps necessary to ban the use of Proton Mail in India.

In its petition, M Moser Design Associates India Pvt Ltd claimed that several of its female employees have been repeatedly targeted through disturbing emails filled with obscene, abusive, and sexually explicit language. Some of these emails even included AI-generated deepfake images and vulgar content aimed at harassing and humiliating the women.

The company also stated that these emails weren’t just limited to internal staff—they were sent to a wide circle, including employees, business associates, vendors, and even competitors. This, the petition said, caused serious and lasting damage to the employees’ mental well-being and the company’s reputation, reported Live Law.

The petitioner claimed that Proton’s email service allows users to select India as their server location, which gives a false impression that the company is ‘operating’ from within the Indian territory.

What is Proton Mail? How is it different from other mails?

Proton Mail uses encryption to protect email content both in transit and at rest, ensuring that only the sender and recipient can read the message, not even Proton.

Unlike traditional email providers like Gmail, which may have access to user data, for Proton Mails, even employees cannot decrypt the emails without the recipient’s key, states the Switzerland based company’s website.

Hoax bomb threats sent via Proton Mail

Following the hoax bomb threat emails in Chennai schools, the Tamil Nadu police, unable to trace the sender because Proton Mail uses end-to-end encryption and is based in Switzerland, requested the Indian government to block the service under Section 69A of the IT Act, which allows blocking of content or services on grounds of national security and public order.