Airtel 675cd Jio Seen Blocking Access to DuckDuckGo Privacy-Focused Search Engine

DuckDuckGo app is not working either Airtel mobile or broadband connection. 4ff4

By Abhik Sengupta | Updated: 1 July 2020 17:45 IST

Airtel, Jio Seen Blocking Access to DuckDuckGo Privacy-Focused Search Engine

DuckDuckGo is working with Airtel broadband connections on PCs for some s 12l69

Highlights

Airtel and Reliance Jio is yet to acknowledge the issue with DuckDuckGo
Last year Reliance Jio blocked Telegram Web without any notice
DuckDuckGo is a privacy-oriented search engine

ment

DuckDuckGo, the privacy-oriented search engine site appears to be blocked in India. The development was spotted after several s over the Internet pointed out that they were unable to access the website on their PCs and smartphones via Airtel and Reliance Jio mobile networks. The block is also reported on Airtel broadband connections. Gadgets 360 has reached out to both Airtel and Reliance Jio for more details over this matter.

The US-based DuckDuckGo Reliance Jio have clarified the reasons for blocking DuckDuckGo in India.

Meanwhile, DuckDuckGo acknowledged getting reports about the issue and noted that the disruption was not from its end. The search engine also said that it was working with ISPs to understand why it was not accessible to some s.

Government Bans 59 ‘Chinese’ Apps, But How Will This be Enforced?

To our s in India: We've received many reports our search engine is unreachable by much of India right now and have confirmed it is not due to us. We're actively talking to Internet providers to get to the bottom of it ASAP. Thank you for your patience.
— DuckDuckGo (@DuckDuckGo) July 1, 2020

Following this development, several s took to social media platforms, expressing anger against what seems like an arbitrary decision. The Internet Shutdowns watchdog handle run by the Software Freedom Law Centre tweeted that it was unable to access the DuckDuckGo website on Airtel India connections.

We are not able to access @DuckDuckGo search engine from @airtelindia. Please let us know if you are able to connect to it through your internet service provider. @SFLCin
— InternetShutdowns.in (@NetShutdowns) July 1, 2020

Not working for me on Jio what happened @JioCare @DuckDuckGo? https://t.co/yD7docJxnY
— Siddhesh | The Best CAR Blog Ever (@Super_Siddy) July 1, 2020

Several s also took to Reddit after they were unable to use DuckDuckGo on their PCs and smartphones via Airtel and Jio connections.

At Gadgets 360, some team were able to access the DuckDuckGo website on their Airtel broadband and mobile connections, while others were not able to. Neither the mobile website nor the mobile app worked on Airtel mobile connections or broadband networks. "A server with the specified hostname could not be found," the app showed. The website was accessible by us on Jio Fiber and Jio mobile connections as well, apart from Vodafone mobile connections. As mentioned, Gadgets 360 has reached out to both Airtel and Reliance Jio for more details over this matter, including how some s are able to access the website, while others are not.

Jio Seen Blocking Access to Telegram Website in India

Meanwhile, several s have pointed out that the privacy-focused search engine worked with VPN.

This is not the first time telcos are found to be blocking privacy-oriented platforms in the country. Last year, Reliance Jio arbitrarily blocked VPN and proxy websites in India.

Reliance Jio Seems to Be Blocking Proxy Websites

Editor's Note: Updated to include DuckDuckGo's response.

In 2020, will WhatsApp get the killer feature that every Indian is waiting for? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, the episode, or just hit the play button below.

Comments

For the latest reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.