Why WeTransfer is not working in India?
What's the story
WeTransfer appears to have hit a roadblock in India. The platform, which allows quick and free web-based transfers, is not working for a large number of people in the country, completely disrupting their remote work. So, what is wrong with WeTransfer? Is it a temporary issue like a bug, or something bigger and more concerning? Let's dig into it.
Error
Error on opening website
Since last week, Indians have been running into errors while trying to open WeTransfer's website (wetransfer.com). Some got a connection reset error saying "Can't reach this site" while others saw a message saying "You are not authorized to access this webpage as per the DoT compliance." Interestingly, there was also a third group that managed to use the site without any issues.
Confirmation
WeTransfer confirmed the 'partial blockage'
As the issue surfaced, users started taking to Twitter, expressing their frustration over the website error and its impact on their work-related transfers. In response, WeTransfer's team acknowledged that their service "seems to be blocked and unavailable in India" and that they are "working hard to understand the reasoning behind this block, as well as how to get it reverted as soon as possible."
Reason
Block over national security concerns?
Following WeTransfer's acknowledgment, a Mumbai Mirror report said that the block has been enforced in compliance with a directive issued by the Department of Telecommunications. On May 18, the outlet said, DoT issued an order to ban three URLs - two related to specific WeTransfer pages and the third being the main wetransfer.com website - on the grounds of national security and public interest.
Working group
Some ISPs still running the service
Although the order to ban the site was issued nearly two weeks ago, it has not been fully implemented yet. Specifically, two telcos Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea have blocked the platform on their network, while Airtel, ACT Fibernet, and Hathaway still appear to be running it. So far, the DoT has not explained why it saw national security concerns in the Dutch service.
Workaround
For now, you could resort to VPN to continue working
That being said, if you are on Jio or Vodafone Idea's network and unable to access WeTransfer, get a third-party VPN service, or use the one built into the Opera browser, to open the site. The suggestion comes as a workaround from WeTransfer, which says it is doing everything to fix the issue and get the service up and running as soon as possible.