DuckDuckGo search engine blocked by many ISPs in India

Recently, the Indian government banned 59 apps including TikTok, Shareit, Cam Scanner. Many people are now reporting that even the DuckDuckGo search engine is not accessible in the country.

For those who are unaware of the DuckDuckGo is a search engine which emphasizes user data protection and privacy. The search engine company is based out of the US and it sets itself apart from the competition by not profiling its users.

In India, many users are reporting on Twitter and Reddit that the search engine is not accessible at their end. It looks like the URL is blocked via a DNS server as many people can still access it with third party DNS.

The company has also responded to the situation and said that the issue is not occurring from their end and they are in touch with local Internet providers to get to the bottom of it and resolve the issue as early as possible. Further, the company also provided a temporary solution for those who are facing the issue using a third party DNS such as 1.1.1.1 can resolve the issue.

To our users 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.July 1, 2020

Some of the ISPs are now lifting the restrictions and we were able to access the site on Jio and Aitel network from our end. However, there are more people facing issues currently. On Reddit, some of them are complaining that they are not able to access on Airtel network. While some users said that the site has been blocked as per the instruction of the government.

The government had banned a total of 59 apps early this week and it was also confirmed that TikTok stopped working in India even with VPN services. Since the website is not accessible to everyone on all networks yet, it’s better to make use of DNS as suggested by the company itself till the issue gets resolved.

Via Techworm

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