Government gets ISPs to block 39 pornographic sites

The Government of India is all set to make discovering and sharing pornographic content difficult online. It has decided to impose a blanket ban over websites that allow users to share such content over the Internet.

In an order dated June 13, the Department of Telecom (DoT) has directed Internet Service providers to block access to about 39 such websites, reports TOI.These websites encompass forums where explicit images are swapped and downloaded and URLs to such images shared. The list also contains image hosts and file hosts that are used to save and share images of the sort.

"It has been decided to immediately block the access to the following URLs... you are accordingly directed to immediately block the access to above URLs,” reads the directive issued by the DoT, but does not elaborate upon which law this order falls under. If you happen to stumble across any such website, you will either be shown a blank page or will see a message saying “this website has been blocked until further notice either pursuant to court orders or on the directions issued by the Department of Telecommunications”. 

Watching adult porn is not been banned in India but watching or distributing child pornography is illegal. The websites that have been blocked are hosted outside India and claim to be operating under the 18 USC 2257 rule enforced by the US that requires producers to maintain records that the actors were over 18 years of age at the time of the video being shot. 

A senior DoT official told the publication that the department was merely following orders issued by the cyber security coordination committee and was unable to talk about specific reasons behind the block. 

The President of Internet Service Providers Association of India, Rajesh Chharia says that it isn’t possible for the ISP providers to pushback DoT orders. “But I feel ideally the government should ask the people who have produced objectionable content to remove it from the web if these people are in India,” he adds. “If they are outside, the websites should be blocked at the international cable landing stations. Involving 150-odd ISPs to implement an order is not the right way to do it.”