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This article was published on August 3, 2015

India bans hundreds of porn and dating websites in misguided crackdown


India bans hundreds of porn and dating websites in misguided crackdown

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.

Naturally, people took to Twitter to lodge their annoyance.

And to point out some potential inconsistencies in logic.

And the general pointlessness of the move.

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.

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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