India’s ban on porn sites is (not) working

When the current government took over in 2014, there were many moves to ban porn sites – with limited success. In 2015, 857 porn sites were indeed banned, but it didn’t make much of a dent in this illegal industry, and so the order was rescinded. In the latest crackdown on online porn in India earlier this week, internet service providers (ISPs) were told to ban 827 such websites, including the popular PornHub and XVideos.

Behind the latest ban

The decision came from the Uttarakhand High Court order on September 28. The court took cognizance of reports which said that certain students in a Dehradun school allegedly gang-raped their schoolmate after watching porn. As per a PTI report, the four students had told the police during investigation that they had watched porn on the Internet before allegedly raping the girl who is a student of Class 10.

The court ruled: “Unlimited access to these pornographic sites is required to be blocked/curbed to avoid an adverse influence on the impressionable minds of children.”

The court also asked the government to implement the 2015 order but brought down the number of websites from 857 to 827. There are many groups in India claiming that porn promotes rape. Even Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi has talked of the need to ban child porn and rape porn in this regard.

Reliance Jio was one of the first ISPs that strictly implemented this, which even led to many discussion boards on Reddit. Users were outraged and are trying their best to work around the ban. But you can’t blame Jio because they risk having their license cancelled if they don’t comply, as do other ISPs. AirTel and other ISPs are saying that they have been flooded with complaints about the block.

Users are already using turnarounds like VPNs (virtual private networks) and some are even turning to YouTube to find racy videos before they are removed from the site. In fact, PornHub itself found a workaround and switched from PornHub.com to PornHub.net in India. Illegal services using multiple URLs to escape bans is not an uncommon concept the world over. Interestingly PornHub even released an official press statement which said,

“Following the news of India blocking 827 adult entertainment sites, despite there being no laws against pornography in India and watching adult content privately, Pornhub, the premiere online destination for adult entertainment and one of the sites included in the ban, has launched a mirror site (Pornhub.net) that will allow the Indian people to access the same great content to which they are accustomed. The company is also offering to work with the Indian government over concerns.”

Incidentally, PornHub has also launched its own VPN called VPNhub, showing how difficult it is for any government in the world to stop their citizens from watching porn.

[Also read: Sex is a great way to start a business, not to build one: Dailyhunt president]