The Indian government has issued bans on the use of email services, including Gmail and Yahoo, citing the need to protect government communications inside government buildings.
The announcement states that all online activity on government computers will be monitored, and any content that does not comply with this policy will be blocked. Authorities will closely monitor users, and will have the right to delete e-mails or browsing history on users' computers who do not follow the government's directive.
These measures are part of the relevant policies of the Indian Government titled, “Email Policy of the Government of India” and “Policy on the Use of IT, Government of India”, which were released on February 18.
The reason for all this is that they fear cyber-espionage from other countries and are particularly concerned about the possibility that the network could be hacked by other countries' spy agencies for the purpose of intercepting information.
“Misuse of these resources can result in unwanted risk and liabilities for the government. NIC may block content which, in the opinion of the organization concerned, is inappropriate, or may adversely affect the productivity of the users.”, states the relevant announcement issued by the Government of India.
The policies also restrict access to social media through the government network, urging users to use “high security settings” and not post “offensive, threatening, defamatory, intimidating, racist, harassing, and generally obscene or sexist content.”
