India Reverses Porn Ban Following Widespread Criticism
The Indian government has retracted the online ban that blocked over 857 porn and adult sites, following widespread criticism of the move.
Last Friday, the government ordered ISPs to block 857 adult, porn and dating sites, in a new crackdown against online material.
The government said it enforced the temporary ban because of concerns about child pornography, ahead of full regulatory oversight.
The move was widely denounced as a threat to online freedom.
And now, the government has reversed its decision to implement a blanket ban, saying only those sites with child pornography should be blocked.
Today, Ravi Shankar, the Information and Technology Minister, told India Today TV: “A new notification will be issued shortly. The ban will be partially withdrawn. Sites that do not promote child porn will be unbanned.”
ISPs have apparently been told they are free to unblock any of the 857 URLs that do not feature child pornography.
The initial declaration said sites including POF.com, Brazzers.com, PornHub.com, LiveJasmine.com, Flirt4Free.com and AdultFriendFinder.com should be blocked.
The government move was made under Article 19(2) of the Constitution of India, which references things that “affect the operation of any existing law” related to, amongst other things, “decency or morality”.
There were many high-profile opponents to the ban, including Bollywood filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma, who said: “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. Government should work on finding ways to steer the content not to go in wrong directions rather than to block it.”
Another opponent to the ban, Chetan Bhagat, posted the following tweet after the decision was reversed:
Glad government had another look at a porn ban order and ensured individual freedom was not compromised. A responsive govt is always good.
– Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) August 5, 2015