The Indian government has done something stupid – it has banned more than 857 porn, dating and other ‘adult’ websites from being accessed within the country.
According to The Independent, the order came through late on Friday from India’s Department of Telecommunications and was due to be put in place by today. Apparently, trying to access a site like Adult Friend Finder now results in either a message saying it has been blocked, or it simply doesn’t load at all.
Of course, the block is a misguided idea and people will inevitably find a way around it, as is the case with almost every block put into place. Wide-ranging restrictions also tend to miscategorize websites too, resulting in sites that don’t contravene any ban also being blocked.
The government has the power to order ISPs to block access to specific sites or types of content and must provide a reason within 30 days.
According to The Times of India, government sources deny any sort of crackdown, saying instead that it’s a prelude to the creation of regulatory oversight, which doesn’t sound any more encouraging really for Indian users of those 857 websites.
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Naturally, people took to Twitter to lodge their annoyance.
And now they ban porn, how mature is our govt. now this is f**king annoying.#pornban
— Ankur P@til (@ankurpat18) August 3, 2015
And to point out some potential inconsistencies in logic.
Dear Authorities,now that porn is 'banned',will u also cover/ban these famous Indian temple sculptures? #PornBan pic.twitter.com/eXamIREJ6U
— Mahesh S Koneru (@smkoneru) August 3, 2015
And the general pointlessness of the move.
GOT has banned only 857 #porn sites from the millions out there. It's amazing how they're so inefficient in everything they do! #pornban
— Neha Yadav (@Superneha83) August 3, 2015
If it’s being done to reduce the incidents of rape or sexual crime against women in the country, Chethan Bhaget has a better suggestion.
Don't ban porn. Ban men ogling, leering, brushing past, groping, molesting, abusing, humiliating and raping women. Ban non-consent. Not sex.
— Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) August 3, 2015
And he’s bang on, too.
Read next: David Cameron’s plan to ban end-to-end encryption is catastrophic for Internet freedom
Featured image credit – Shutterstock
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