The orders of India’s DoT have blocked 32 websites in India. The list includes some very popular websites like Vimeo, Pastebin, Dailymotion, Github and many others. The issue is reported mainly by the users using BSNL, Hathway and Vodafone network. Several users have reported the block via social network Twitter. However, the block was first reported on December 19, 2014 by Pastebin.com; a website for pasting and sharing text files.
The website posted a Tweet saying, “Pastebin.com Seems to have been blocked in India. If you are from India and unable to visit Pastebin, please email us.”
http://t.co/e3zRKnJJQO seems to have been blocked in India. If you are from India and unable to visit Pastebin, please email us.
— Pastebin (@pastebin) December 19, 2014
While there is no official word from DoT about blocking these websites, Arvind Gupta, National Head of BJP India IT Cell said in his Tweet, “The websites that have been blocked were based on an advisory by the Anti-Terrorism Squad, as they were carrying Anti India content from ISIS.
The websites that have been blocked were based on an advisory by Anti Terrorism Squad, and were carrying Anti India content from ISIS. 1/2
— Arvind Gupta (@buzzindelhi) December 31, 2014
Mr. Gupta further said in his tweet that the websites who have removed the objectionable content are unblocked.
According to reorts, these websites are inaccessible only for Vodafone, BSNL and Hathway users but a user from Bangalore also reported the issue with Tata Docomo Network.
Being an Airtel user, I can access most of the website from the list. At the time of posting this news, I can access pastebin.com, ipage.com, hpage.com, vimeo.com and many more. Supposedly the ban order is still rolling out and only ISPs like BSNL, Vodafone and Hathway have blocked these websites for now.
