Govt Bans 827 Adult Sites; Suscribers Furious

Govt Bans 827 Adult Sites; Suscribers Furious
The government has directed Internet service providers to block 827 websites that host p*rnographic content following an order by the Uttarakhand High Court. While the Uttarakhand High Court has asked to block 857 websites, the Ministry of Electronics and IT (Meity) found 30 portals without any p*rnographic content.

Meity asked the Department of Telecom (DoT) to block 827 websites named in the list issued as part of the order, sources said. "... all the internet service licensees are instructed to take immediate necessary action for blocking of 827 websites as per the direction from Meity and for the compliance of the Hon'ble High Court order," the Department of Telecom said in an order issued to internet service providers.

This ban has thousands of mobile users up in arms. Particularly aggrieved are those who have paid annual subscriptions.

P*rnhub, whose third largest customer base comes from India (the first two are US and UK), has created a mirror site P*rnhub.net to get around the ban. Other sites like Behance.net have advised their clients to download the mobile app. The customer care divisions of Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone have been flooded with calls.

P*rnhub, whose third largest customer base comes from India (the first two are US and UK), has created a mirror site p*rnhub.net to get around the ban. Other sites like Behance.net have advised their clients to download the mobile app. The customer care divisions of Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone have been flooded with calls.

Thousands of tweets hit Twitter under the hashtag #p*rnban, with users saying this goes against net neutrality laws in India, which prohibit discrimination against any content provider. Users feel the government should have taken strong action against child p*rn, rape p*rn and BDSM (bondage, discipline, sadism, and masochism types of sexual practice), and not against the more well-known p*rn websites like p*rnhub and Xvideos.com, who ensure their content is above board.

That was a sentiment voiced also by p*rnhub vice president Corey Price: "This is apparent by the fact that they only banned large sites like p*rnhub, and didn't block thousands of risky p*rn sites that may contain illegal content. There are no laws against p*rnography in India and watching adult content privately. It's evident that the Indian government does not have a solution to a very serious and systemic problem in the country, and is using adult sites like ours as a scapegoat."

Viewing of adult content in India soared 75% between March 2016 and March 2017, following data rates crashing with the entry of Reliance Jio, said video viewership tracker Vidooly's. A lot of that increase came from smaller towns.

Lawyer PK Rajagopal, who practices in the Madras HC, said in a mature democracy, decisions about what to watch should be left to viewers. "Banning child p*rn or violent content is acceptable. But a ban on nudity or p*rn amounts to moral policing. Our freedom of expression and right to consumption of different content is protected by article (19) of the constitution," he said.

There are supporters of the ban too, who point to studies showing clear links between p*rn and violence against women.

"There have been many studies showing that p*rn addiction can lead to sexual violence against women. In the largest interests of the public, the government might have undertaken this step. Net neutrality laws have been adopted. But there's no such thing as absolute neutrality and absolute non-interference. Reasonable restrictions can be placed if the government has concerns," said A Sirajudeen, senior advocate in the Supreme Court.

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