Govt. wants to ban porn sites permanently.
By Dileep Thekkethil
BENGALURU: India has ordered the domestic Internet Service Providers to ban 857 pornographic websites after the Supreme Court raised concerns over increasing number of children accessing porn sites in India.
The decision to ban porn sites was announced by the spokesperson of the department of telecommunication. He said that the government has given direction to ISPs to ban 857 pornographic websites under the Information Technology Act, respecting the comments made by the Supreme Court last month.
Spokesperson NN Kaul was quoted by CNNMoney, saying, “The court said that free and open access to these websites should be controlled.”
He added that the Telecommunications department has provided ISPs with a 17-page document, listing the names of porn websites that “violates morality and decency”.
Experts say that the current move of the Indian government is the largest porn website crack down ever in the history of the Internet so far.
The Supreme Court on July had said it cannot pass an interim order to stop adults from watching porn in the confines of his residence as this can be later questioned for breaking into the fundamental right of a person who has the liberty to see anything within the four walls of his room.
Chief Justice added, “The issue is definitely serious and some steps need to be taken. The Centre is expected to take a stand…let us see what stand the Centre will take.”
Kaul also added that the current restriction on the porn site is only temporary and the government is planning for stringent laws to ban porn sites permanently. The currently banned websites can be accessed through proxy and private Networks.
The reaction of netizens to the ban is highly critical and deems the current action as the censorship of the internet.
Acclaimed filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma criticised the ban tweeting “To ban porn saying it will be seen by who shouldn’t see it is like saying to stop traffic because there will be accidents.”