In an effort to help employees during the coronavirus pandemic, Japanese authorities have decided to ban centuries-old fax machines from offices. However, the move was not appreciated by locals who turned out to be fans of fax machines.

A ministerial body responsible for dealing with administrative reform in Japan adopted a new decision to abolish the use of fax machines by the end of July. All ministers and organizations have been ordered to switch to e-mail and ditch the office communications equipment of the 1980s.

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However, this decision angered residents of the Tokyo district of Kasumigaseki. Hundreds of Japanese government officials rushed to the fax machine’s rescue and claimed it would be “impossible” to ban the communications device, local media reported.

The decision has been made regarding the safety of employees in the coronavirus pandemic. As all offices have moved to working from home, some employees have had to go to the offices to send and receive the fax. To ensure that people can stay safe in their homes, the government agency decided to forward all communications to emails from the fax machine.

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Now, the reaction of the employees has led the government to abandon this mission of helping their employees to upgrade their technology. The government had to rule out the option of turning the office space into a digital-only operation, local media reported.

Fax fans say they are protesting the move simply because they fear the security of sensitive information and “anxiety about the communications environment.” Japanese government officials are known to use the fax to communicate confidential and sensitive information.

Officials said the move was made as part of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s plan to increase the efficiency of government offices using technology.