Update: The Vodafone representative informs us that the order was for blocking one imgur URL, and the company blocked the entire domain by mistake. That has now been corrected, and only one URL has been blocked. The representative did not respond to a query requesting information on which URL has been blocked. Earlier today: The Indian government has asked telecom operators and ISPs to block the image sharing site imgur. A Vodafone representative, responding to a query from MediaNama about Imgur not being accessible via Vodafone connections, said that "It has been blocked as per DoT instructions." DoT is the Department of Telecommunications, which issues blocking instructions to telecom operators and ISPs. We were alerted to this issue via Twitter, and pointed towards a Reddit thread which indicates that some users via Hathway, an ISP. Users on the group also suggest workarounds: imgur can be accessed by replacing 'imgur' in the link with filmot. There's a chrome extension, here, which does this automatically. Necessary requirements for blocking Ideally, blocking should be an exception, and not the norm that it has become. Even if blocks are instituted, here's how it should be done. Visitors to a blocked website should be informed about: 1. The fact that the website has been blocked: There should be a notice indicating that the website has been blocked. This till ensure that visitors don't assume that there is a problem with their Internet connection (ISP), with the websites servers or the DNS. 2. Who has asked for the site…
