Portals in High Security Zones - Players suspected for terrorism activity
Title of the Wayspot: Buddha Syatue at Norocchola
Location: 8.013249,79.724442
City: Norochcholai
Country: Sri Lanka
Screenshot of the Rejection Email: Attached herewith
Photos to support your claim: Read additional information
Additional information:
Date: 29/SEP/2021
Location (Google URL): https://goo.gl/maps/Wfe2MTuAY2epALYf8
Nature of incident: 4 Enlightened agents were arrested by the security Forces (Navy and Police) and detained for a few hours.
4 of our agents @SashUltra @ultraDex007 @INVoK3R22 @ultraRoM were passing by “Lakviaya” power plant which is located at a high security zone and given the 2 portals “gal kanu” and “Buddha Syatue at Norocchola” were in visible distance to the scanner they tried to break the 2 portals stopped at a distance. Since there was a security checkpoint blocking entrance to these 2 portals they have tried to request permission from the officers at the point to go closer to the portals which was denied. By the time all these agents personal details were obtained and written down at the checkpoint stating it is for security reasons.
As their access request was denied stating that this is now considered a high security zone and it does not have public access anymore, the agents turned back and were on their way home when they got another call from these security officers stating that they need to get a statement for their request to access this location.
This is where things started to take a U-Turn and the officers have insisted that they stop their vehicle immediately and stay where they are until they arrive. These 4 agents were then severely checked and questioned after taking them into custody and kept locked up in the police station for a few hours.
Currently only a few resistance agents who are employees of this power plant have access to this location, and given this is located in a high security zone it directly violates the criteria for a valid portal according to Wayfair Guidelines. This also violates the clauses which state that a portal should not obstruct public access or block access to law enforcements in case of an emergency, hence this portal should be removed from the map. It should also be highlighted that the Resistance faction is well aware that the incident happened yesterday (29/09/2021) and they have given their fullest support to resolve the ongoing investigation process carried out by security forces. That incident also highlighted the Spirit of the Game and brotherhood between two ingress factions in Sri Lanka.
Furthermore the law enforcements stated that they will be doing a thorough investigation on this incident as to how anyone could have obtained the photos from inside this high security zone and uploaded for public access which imposes a direct threat to national security. The investigation continues…
Official Government website:
http://powermin.gov.lk/english/?page_id=1517
Portals without access:
https://intel.ingress.com/intel?ll=8.013249,79.724442&z=17&pll=8.013249,79.724442
Comments
Does the object (the statue) still exist and is at the correct location? If it does, the Wayspot will not be removed just because the area has restricted access. Restricted access has always been - and still is - acceptable, as long as some people (in this case, the employees you wrote about) can safely approach the object. (Source: last November's AMA - https://community.wayfarer.nianticlabs.com/discussion/10321/november-ama-your-questions-answered/p1).
The only way to remove this Wayspot is is the director of the power plant directly asks Niantic to do it.
Agents and Trainees should not face that kind of horrible incidents just because of a game. Niantic is always promoting the Safe and Secure game play and we should support to NIA by reporting these things. By considering the safety of both player and the National Security, it is better to remove this portal at this time. Nomination process also should more concern on avoid this kind of situation in future.
If Niantic refuses to remove the portals, the affected agents should publish their story on new sites to warn other people about the dangers of playing Ingress.
This is exactly what is happening to the players in the community, incidents like these cause players to refrain from playing any further. If NIA wants to keep the game alive, they might as well take incidents like these more seriously.
"The only way to remove this Wayspot is is the director of the power plant directly asks Niantic to do it."
Ingress/PokemonGo are mere games, and a powerplant connected to the national grid of a country is nowhere close to be compared with a game. Lakvijaya powerplant is just one powerplant under the Ministry of Power and is a government owned body which also falls under the direct supervision of the President.
Out of all the issues the President of Sri Lanka or the Minister of Power in Sri Lanka have to solve on a daily basis, do you really think they bother learning the nature of a game not even 0.000045% of the population plays and would take time to report to the Creators of the game to remove a portal?
From the Ingress community's perspective 4 players getting arrested due to the game is a bigger issue for us to consider, given there are only less than 20 active players playing from the whole country on a daily basis nowadays from both Factions combined. Even if one player gets effected from issues like this, that is about 5% player base. It is the sole responsibility of the community of the game to make the sure we do everything in our power to make this game a safer game to play for players tomorrow than it was today.
Didn't you understand his statement? If the government (either the power plant manager, Minister of Power, or the President) don't wish any Ingress/GO players trespassing into the plants, then they should request both removing Wayspots and blocking the area for Wayspots/Pokemon spawns/etc directly to Niantic, at which they can find the form in each games' support page. Players can't act as intermediaries, and they should respect the local law not to trespass into a restricted place. (I believe this warning is always displayed everytime you open the app.)
Don't blame @NianticGiffard if he decided to reject your request, because that's the standard procedure.
If the country wishes to ban Ingress/GO instead because of this, well..., their choice.
Sri Lanka has already hosted 02 major anomalies, 03 NL events, 03 official MD events, lots of FSs and many more mini anomalies. Some of them are accelerated by Sri Lankan Tourism also. Hope you are in crystal clear on our choice now.
Why should a government have to deal with any gaming company?
What's the validity of the lightship database if it includes "PoI" in forbidden zones that can lead to arrest of unsuspected players?
I think you are well aware on Nomination Process. Agent or Trainees should have equal rights to nominate a portal or report it's invalidly. Because we are the ones who largely contributed to create this map (expect NIA nominations on early 2013) and we are the intermediators between Scanner and real locations.
Anything can be a threat to national security if you try.
I mean really, if the resistance agent captured these portals and fielded from it around noon (12:39pm, as it says) and then a packed car asks for permission to enter the area at nighttime (8:16pm), does that not arouse suspicion? Is the resistance agent an employee of Norocchola?
Plus the invalid portal email response is like three years old. Consider lodging a fresh one.
Appeal Denied - Thanks for the appeal, Agent. We took another look at the Portal in question and decided that it does not meet our criteria for removal at this time.