Monday morning blues in the world’s largest democracy this week included a ban on online pornography.
Monday morning blues in the world’s largest democracy this week included a ban on online pornography.
Porn-loving Indians—who are among the most prolific consumers of the stuff in the world—now must do without some 850 websites the government has reportedly banned. The country’s internet service providers have to ensure that their users can’t access these websites, and some already have.
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While no one is quite sure what exactly prompted this latest crackdown, HuffPost India reports that the Narendra Modi government apparently went for the kill after the country’s supreme court prodded it for its “lethargic approach to the issue” of pornography in India.
Here’s the entire list of the 857 sites that have been blocked.
“We aren’t challenging anybody’s right to see the content,” a government official involved in the process told Quartz, requesting anonymity. “We are challenging the right of a person to show the content.” That argument, of course, is specious, especially since the supreme court itself had earlier indicated that banning porn may be problematic.
“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],” chief justice H.L. Dattu had said last month.
To add to that, government sources told Quartz that they scarcely expect the ban to be entirely enforceable, given the massive volumes of pornographic content on the internet and the multiple routes for accessing them. In effect, the ban seems largely symbolic.
So, if you’re in India, here’s a rough guide to circumnavigating the government’s latest online shenanigan—or, why the Modi government’s attempted gag on online porn is entirely ridiculous:
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