India partially bans file-sharing site WeTransfer citing ‘national security’

The Netherlands-based company has stated that it is working on a fix.
WeTransfer
WeTransfer
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The Department of Telecommunications has partially blocked the popular file-sharing website ‘WeTransfer’ in India. The matter came to light after several social media users flagged that they were not able to access the website. While some were not able to access the website, stating that the site could not be reached, others received a message stating that they were not allowed to access the website “as per DoT compliance.”

According to a report in Mumbai Mirror, the government of India has ordered that the site be blocked over concerns of national security. The report states that in a May 18 order, the telecom department of India asked internet service providers to block three URLs, two specific pages of WeTransfer, and the third URL is that of the entire website.

Several social media users using Vodafone Idea and Jio internet service providers were unable to access WeTransfer. The Netherlands-based company in response to the tweets has stated that it is not sure of the reason behind the block.

“We have received reports that WeTransfer is being (partially) blocked in India. Our team is investigating the issue, we hope to have more details soon. In the meantime, the best workaround is to use a VPN service to access our site. Thanks for your patience!” the official handle of the company responded.

In an official statement, WeTransfer said that it is working to fix the problem.

“At this moment in time, WeTransfer seems to be blocked and unavailable in India. We are working hard to understand the reasoning behind this block, as well as how to get it reverted as soon as possible,” a statement from WeTransfer says.

This comes as a major inconvenience to the many Indians who are working from home amid the lockdown, as the website enables them to send larger files over the internet. WeTransfer allows you to transfer files up to 2 GB to a maximum of 10 people as part of its free for all plan, and the files are accessible on the WeTransfer link for seven days. With its premium plan, users can send files up to 20 GB to 50 people over the internet and users can decide when the content expires. 


 

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