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Monday, August 3, 2015

The Ban Of Porn In India & Its Media Reactions





Internet users in India woke up to a huge shock, on 1st August 2015, when instead of getting access to their favourite pornographic websites they were greeted with a message-"The site has been blocked as per the instructions of Competent Authority,"-on their computer screens! The outrage grew as news spread online about the possible ban by the government. According to reports, over 850 websites were blocked, by issuing notices to internet service providers.

"We have written to the ISPs (internet service providers) to restrict free and open access to 857 websites. This direction is based on the observations made by the honourable Supreme Court on 10 July and using section 79 (3b) of the IT Act read with Article 19 (2) of the Indian constitution," telecom ministry spokesperson N.N. Kaul told a leading Indian online media portal.

Is this the way ahead?
With less than a fortnight to go for Independence Day, this is stark infringement of individual freedom. It is an ironic attempt to ban porn in a country where a porn star has got effortlessly mainstreamed in Bollywood.
 
According to data from Pornhub, one of the world's largest porn sites, Indians are among the most 'prolific consumers' of internet pornography, accounting for 40 per cent of its 14.2 billion visits. Mizoram consumes most porn and Delhi finishes a close second. The data also revealed that Canadian-Indian actress Sunny Leone is the most searched-for porn star in the country.

We can understand the call from certain section of activists campaigning for a ban on child pornography. There is also a running debate on whether watching porn encourages violence against women and sexism?

Here is Ram Gopal Varma's take on it as he says pushing matters under the carpet is no solution at all:



Is this ban mandated by the constitution?
Section 79(3) (b) of the IT Act requires intermediaries to take down or block access to content when demanded by the government, while Article 19 (2) of the constitution imposes "reasonable restrictions" on freedom of speech. This latest attempt is stretching the limits of being reasonable.

A complete turnabout!
In a marked contrast, in early July 2015, the Supreme Court had declined to pass an order to block pornographic websites in India during a petition brought by advocate Kamlesh Vashwani. Chief Justice of India (CJI) H.L. Dattu had then observed that it would be a violation of right to personal liberty to ban anyone over 18 years of age from watching it within their homes.

Social media outrage:
Twitter is abuzz withth tweets from celebrities, film directors and common man crying foul and terming this as a brazen act against personal liberty.

Here are some tweets doing the round:

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