India has blocked access to Supabase, a popular developer database platform, under Section 69A of the country's Information Technology Act. The move, issued on February 24, has resulted in patchy access to the platform across various networks in India.
Supabase, founded in 2020 by CEO Paul Copplestone and CTO Ant Wilson, is an open-source alternative to Firebase built on PostgreSQL. The company has raised about $380 million across three funding rounds since September 2024, lifting its valuation to $5 billion.
India is Supabase's fourth-largest source of traffic, accounting for about 9% of global visits, according to data from Similarweb. The platform's global traffic jumped more than 111% year over year to about 4.2 million visits in January.
The Blocking Order
The Indian government did not publicly cite a reason for the move, and it was not immediately clear whether the action was linked to a cybersecurity concern, copyright complaint, or another issue. Supabase has acknowledged the issue and is working to resolve it.
Users in India have reported inconsistent access to Supabase, with some able to access the platform while others are blocked. The company has suggested workarounds such as switching DNS settings or using a VPN, but these steps are not practical for most end users.
Impact on the Developer Ecosystem
The incident highlights broader concerns about India's website blocking regime, said Raman Jit Singh Chima, Asia Pacific policy director at Access Now. The move has disrupted the developer ecosystem in India, with many users unable to access the platform for development and production purposes.
India has previously faced criticism over broad website blocking measures, including the brief restriction of access to developer platform GitHub in 2014. The country's Ministry of Electronics and IT, as well as telecom providers, did not respond to requests for comment.
What's Next
Supabase continues to follow up through all available channels to resolve the issue. The company has removed a post tagging India's IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, asking him to intervene and restore access. The situation remains uncertain, with no clear indication of when access to Supabase will be restored in India.
