Ban on more than 800 adult websites continue, despite Govt. getting cold feet.
By Dileep Thekkethil
BENGALURU: A day after the government decided to put a ban on only those adult websites carrying child pornography, the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have opposed such a move saying that it is not practical.
The Internet Service Providers Association of India said, in a statement, “ISPs have no way or mechanism to filter out child pornography from URLs, and the further unlimited sub-links.”
Earlier on July 30, the government had directed ISPs to block 857 porn websites citing moral issues; the netizens came out against such a move, calling it a censorship of the Internet, prompting the government to retract from banning the adult websites.
The government hastily took another decision on Tuesday to ban only websites carrying child pornography, but now it seems like ISPs can’t follow such an order citing it to be “vague and un-implementable”.
The ISPs are annoyed by the government’s order and feel transferring the responsibility of tracking and bring down websites that carry child porn to them, is unfair.
“We urge you to withdraw the said vague directive as it is not only confusing but also putting the responsibility on ISPs,” ISPAI president Rajesh Chharia said in a letter to telecom secretary Rakesh Garg.
Chharia also said that the ISPs cannot put a control over the content that appear on a website as they can add or remove content at any point of time.
“The ISPs do not have a mechanism to check the content, as the same is dynamic in nature. Hence, we request your good self to advise us immediately on the future course of action in this regard. Till your further directive, the ISPs are keeping the said 857 URLs disabled,” ISPAI said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Telecom and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad came out with the statement that the order will be reviewed before implementing, a decision taken after a series of meetings attended by IT Secretary R S Sharma and Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand.
The Supreme Court had said last month it cannot pass an interim order to stop adults from watching porn in the confines of one’s residence as this can be later questioned for violating fundamental rights.