India's Department of Telecommunication under the Ministry of Communication and IT put a restrictive ban to 857 Porn, Adult Dating, and Porn Blog websites.
The Supreme Court of India questioned the proposal of the government to ban porn and adult sites last month. They asked if someone can commit a crime while watching adult scenes inside the four corners of his/her room.
"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 (the) house. Could he not argue about his right to freedom to do something within the four walls of his house without violating any law?", the Supreme Court statement said.
The Indian government passed a 17-page order last July 31 to India's Internet Service Providers requesting the takedown of 857 porn and adult websites on grounds of morality and decency.
India is listed as the second largest internet user in the world next to China. Pornhub, one of the highest viewed porn site in the world and also included in the ban, recorded India as fourth in terms of their viewer traffic, next to the United States, United Kingdom and Canada, in their 2014 year-end review. India jumped three spots in the 2014 review from being seventh in the 2013 rankings.
The #PornBan has gathered a large amount of extreme criticism in social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, 9Gag, and Reddit. "Porn ban is anti-freedom, impractical, not enforceable. Politically not very smart too. Avoidable. Let's not manage people's private lives," said Chetan Bhagat, a novelist, in a Twitter post.
India has been known for its strict implementation of restriction to medias that are deemed to be detrimental to the citizens' morality and decency, especially with Bollywood and Hollywood movies and Indian local shows.
