India has taken an initiative to prevent pornography by releasing an order to block hundreds of adult websites which are becoming a social trouble. Internet service providers (ISPs) have been instructed by the telecommunications department to ban 857 websites as part of the first major step in eliminating online pornography.
On July 31, the Indian government issued a 17-page order which includes list of sites with offending contents. On the ground of decency and morality, the authorities directed the order to the ISPs.
A spokesman at the telecommunications department named N.N Kaul stated that, "We have written to the ISPs asking them to control free and open access to objectionable websites."
Users all over the region ended with blank pages every time they attempt to access adult websites. Authorities ordered the ban after receiving reports of increasing sex crimes due to pornography.
The move resulted to a debate about censorship and freedom of speech in the world's largest democracy. Many users expressed their anger on social media about the new policy. The Supreme Court initially refused to approve the order saying that the citizens should be given freedom in accessing sites in private.
After the websites were blocked, Twitter has been filled with the hash tag #Pornban. Even the best-selling novelist Chetan Bhagat expressed his disappointment about the moral policy.
"Porn ban is anti-freedom, impractical, not enforceable. Politically not very smart too. Avoidable. Let's not manage people's private lives."
The government states that the ban will only last until a suitable resolution is generated. Authorities are still working on a long term solution to the alarming issue. They will be developing a system that will filter specific sites.
After China, India is ranked as the second largest user of internet. Social media and smartphone use is also rising in the area. Pornhub, an adult site revealed the country is their number four source of traffic following United States, Britain and Canada.
