India disrupts entry to common developer platform Supabase with blocking order

Supabase, a well-liked developer database platform, has been blocked in India — certainly one of its key markets — TechCrunch has discovered. New Delhi ordered web suppliers to dam its web site, leading to patchy entry throughout networks.

The blocking order was issued on February 24 below Part 69A of India’s Info Expertise Act, based on a supply conversant in the matter. The supply empowers the federal government to limit public entry to on-line content material.

The Indian authorities didn’t publicly cite a purpose for the transfer, and it was not instantly clear whether or not the motion was linked to a cybersecurity concern, copyright criticism, or one other subject. It was additionally unclear how lengthy the restrictions would stay in place.

Entry to Supabase has been inconsistent in India over the previous a number of days, with the San Francisco-based firm acknowledging the difficulty in posts on social media beginning Wednesday. Whereas the restrictions had been first reported by Supabase on Reliance Industries’ JioFiber community, customers have since flagged related issues throughout a number of web suppliers and telecom networks. In a single submit on Friday, Supabase tagged India’s IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, asking him to intervene and restore entry, although the corporate later eliminated the message and mentioned in a subsequent replace that the positioning remained blocked for a lot of customers within the nation.

See more

We perceive many customers in India proceed to be blocked from accessing Supabase. We acknowledge the difficulties that is inflicting for our customers there. Supabase continues to comply with up by all accessible channels to resolve this subject.

We proceed to advise affected prospects…

— Supabase (@supabase) February 27, 2026

An Indian founder, who requested to not be named to keep away from potential repercussions, instructed TechCrunch that they had stopped seeing new person sign-ups from India over the previous two to a few days. A expertise advisor working with native startups, who spoke on situation of anonymity, mentioned they had been unable to reliably entry Supabase for each improvement and manufacturing functions.

Whereas Supabase instructed workarounds corresponding to switching DNS settings or utilizing a VPN (which reroutes web visitors to bypass native restrictions), the founder mentioned such steps weren’t sensible for many finish customers.

On the time of publication, TechCrunch was in a position to confirm that supabase.co remained inaccessible on ACT Fibernet, JioFiber, and Airtel connections in New Delhi. Nevertheless, two customers on ACT Fibernet in Bengaluru mentioned they had been nonetheless in a position to entry the service, suggesting the restrictions could also be inconsistently applied.

Notably, Supabase’s important web site remained accessible in India — however its underlying developer infrastructure didn’t.

India is Supabase’s fourth-largest supply of visitors, accounting for about 9% of world visits, based on knowledge from Similarweb, highlighting the potential fallout for the nation’s developer ecosystem. The platform’s international visitors jumped greater than 111% yr over yr to about 4.2 million visits in January. In India, visits rose roughly 179% to about 365,000, in contrast with a 168.5% improve within the U.S. to about 627,000.

The incident highlights broader considerations about India’s web site blocking regime, mentioned Raman Jit Singh Chima, Asia Pacific coverage director at Entry Now.

“It is a easy indisputable fact that has grave penalties for builders and others,” he instructed TechCrunch. “You don’t know the place you possibly can safely run initiatives with out the hazard that one thing may occur the place it will get blocked, and instantly you’re scrambling to discover a approach.”

India has beforehand confronted criticism over broad website-blocking measures. In 2014, authorities briefly restricted entry to developer platform GitHub, together with providers corresponding to Vimeo, Pastebin, and Weebly throughout a safety probe. Customers on some Indian networks in 2023 additionally reported {that a} key GitHub content material area had been blocked by sure ISPs, based on earlier reviews.

Based in 2020 by CEO Paul Copplestone and CTO Ant Wilson, Supabase positions itself as an open supply various to Firebase constructed on PostgreSQL. The startup has gained traction amid rising curiosity in vibe-coding instruments and AI-driven app improvement and has raised about $380 million throughout three funding rounds since September 2024, lifting its valuation to $5 billion.

India’s Ministry of Electronics and IT, in addition to telecom suppliers, together with ACT Fibernet, Bharti Airtel, and Reliance Jio, didn’t reply to requests for remark. Copplestone and Wilson additionally didn’t reply.