Open access to porn in India
has grown rampantly in the last decade with broadband penetration
increasing and now with smartphones one can view porn with the click of
a phone button. There has been talk of banning
porn websites in India but India’s Supreme Court recently declined a
plea to block porn websites in India.
Chief Justice H.L. Dattu reportedly said
Chief
Justice H.L. Dattu reportedly said that is a violation of Article 21
[right to personal liberty] as people may ask how government can control what
they wish to watch within four walls of a room. With this, Indian government has reportedly taken an indirect
route and is making ISP’s block porn access.
Sources
say that customers of MTNL and Hathway are being greeted by a blank page
when visiting websites such as Youporn and Pornhub, but websites
which are loading on Airtel have no problem since Airtel has refused
to ban porn access until government gives them a written order.
Some users of other ISPs such BSNL and ACT Broadband are also reporting blockage with users being greeted by the message "This site has been blocked as per the instruction of the competent authority" when they are visiting popular porn websites.
