#PornBan by Indian Government sparks Outrage

In a strange attempt to curb the use of porn sites in India, the Indian government has made a bold move to ban certain adult websites across the nation.

Numerous popular porn sites regularly accessed in the country including the likes of pornhub.com, xvideos.com, redtube.com, and brazzers.com are now blocked.

India users can only see a blank page or message from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Government of India that reads:

“This site has been blocked as per the instructions of Competent Authority.”

In the country where the Kama Sutra was created and graphic images of sexual acts are openly seen on ancient buildings, not everyone is amused by this moral policing by the government.

The impact to restrain the use of the Internet for personal means in this manner has led to Twitter reactions which are mostly not in favour or at all pleased by this edict.

The hashtag #PornBan has quickly begun to trend nationwide, with users vocalising their anger:

Someone must remind the current government that they were elected to run the nation not become moral science teacher #pornban

— ?????? ??????? (@Aagan86) August 1, 2015

User, @oafmax, poignantly asked what the ban would mean to the cultural heritage of the country: “Will #PornBan include destroying the khajuraho sculptures and renouncing the Kamasutra?”

Some questioned whether the #Pornban could unearth a whole other set of social problems, with user, @luvashwin tweeting:

“Dear govt if u gona ban porn, there is gona be more hidden cams and peeping. So let us enjoy in HD and safeguard our modesty #Pornban.”

#PornBan in India – banning online porn sites will lead to pent up sexual frustration. Chances of increasing rapes.

— Kris (@krisnair_) July 9, 2015

Others made reference to their favourite former adult star, Sunny Leone: “Sunny Leone was too smart to move in Bollywood industry #SincePornIsBanned #PornBan,” Prashant Sharma tweeted.

While others directed their mock outrage directly at officials: “MINISTERS ARE WONDERING WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO DO WITH THEIR IPADS FROM NOW? #PornBan,” asked @SachinVerma83.

Kaustubh Rai said: “Well, I guess BJP can kiss its youth vote- bank goodbye !! #PornBan” while user, @vikaspatriot was not too concerned:

“I’ll ask my USA wala cousin to download porn and bring the stock every time he visits india. #kaladhan #KalaPorn #PornBa.”

@james__bound cheekily tweeted: “#PornBan is a fake news just checked pornhub ..koi tension ki baat nahi.”

Others, however, were clearly in total despair:

*Basic necessity of a Single Guy*

Roti
Kapda
Makaan
Phone
Daaru
aur
Porn#PornBan

— ???? (@aneeshsays) August 1, 2015

While the reaction to this ‘sneaky’ move by the government to control its citizens has caused outrage among many, some do believe that it may make the vast online world a safer place for youngsters.

Most suspect that the sudden #Pornban move allegedly stemmed from a Supreme Court hearing in July 2015 during a petition to block child pornography sites.

Lawyer Kamlesh Vaswani provided the home ministry with a list of 850 websites which housed and circulated child pornography.

Defending him was Vijay Panjwani, who demanded why these sites had not already been banned under the cyber laws that currently existed.

The bench discussed whether it was justified to make watching and accessing porn in the privacy of one’s home an offence:

“It is an issue for the government to deal with. Can we pass an interim order directing blocking of all adult websites?

“And let us keep in mind the possible contention of a person who could ask what crime have I committed by browsing adult websites in private within the four walls of my house.

“Could he not argue about his right to freedom to do something within the four walls of his house without violating any law?”

At the time, Chief Justice HL Dattu denied the interim ban on porn sites saying:

“Such interim orders cannot be passed by this court. Somebody may come to the court and say look I am above 18 and how can you stop me from watching it within the four walls of my room.”

“It is a violation of Article 21 [right to personal liberty],” he said.

But despite the Court’s decision to respect the freedom of its public and their right to personal liberty, the Indian government has issued a ban on porn regardless.

The change of mind has been a confusing one. Only in April 2014, during another hearing, the government admitted that blocking porn would require censoring all content on the Internet, which was unfeasible:

“As publication and transmission of pornographic material (excluding child pornography which is illegal almost everywhere in the world) is legal in these countries, it is not possible to take actions against entities operating such servers under Indian laws,” the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) wrote.

But later in November 2014, it emerged that the Internet and Mobile Association of India were requested to collate a list of all porn websites.

Since then, it was only a matter of time when a formal ban would take place.

Reportedly these porn sites have been barred through the government targeting Internet Service Providers (ISPs) across India. In particular, MTNL Mumbai, BSNL, Vodafone and ACT were thought to have been instructed to stop their users from accessing porn.

However some service users (mainly of Airtel and Tikona) claim to still be able to access porn sites without any trouble, but it remains to be seen how long this liberty will last.

Currently the Indian government has made no formal announcement regarding the ban of porn sites across the country, and whether it violates the personal liberty of its citizens.

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