Ban on 67 porn sites, Modi government ordered internet companies, so far 900 sites banned in India
The Indian government has ordered internet companies to block 67 pornographic websites. Four confidential letters surfaced on Thursday (29 September 2022) have revealed that the government has cited the Information Technology (Intermediary Liability and Digital Media Code of Conduct) Rules, 2021 for this. In an email sent to internet service providers, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has asked to block 63 websites based on the order of a Pune court and 4 on the directions of the Uttarakhand High Court. This directive was issued by the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY).
Govt orders internet companies to block 67 pornographic websites following court orders and for violating new IT rules issued in 2021
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 29, 2022
The email sent by the Department of Telecommunications on September 24, 2022 reads, “Rule 3(2)(b) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Code of Conduct) Rules, 2021 as well as the Court (Uttarakhand High Court) It has been directed to block the website/url containing certain obscene material which maligns the dignity and image of women.
The IT Rules 2021 enforced by MeitY asks IT companies to remove or block content hosted, stored or published by them that depicts full or partial nudity or depicts a person performing a sexual act or conduct.
Let us inform that in the year 2018, the government had banned about 827 pornographic websites after the order of the Uttarakhand High Court. At that time the Uttarakhand High Court had asked the government to block 857 websites. The Ministry of Electronics and IT (Meity) had said that no pornographic material has been found on 30 portals.
After this ban, the number of some banned porn sites in India has reached close to 900. At the time of the porn ban in India, the Vice President of Pornhub had said that it is the people of India to ban porn sites. This allows these people to cross illegal porn sites at risk. At that time, India was the third largest consumer for Pornhub.
