Will block porn sites, Centre tells SC

New Delhi, July 8

Central government told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that it would take measures to clamp down on pornographic sites, particularly those dealing with child pornography.

The assurance came after a bench composed of Chief Justice HL Dattu and Justices Arun Mishra and Amitava Roy said the government failed to take action against such sites.

Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand told the court it would do all it could.  

The bench also told Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar to assist the government in its crackdown on pornographic sites.

The apex court had previously told the secretary of the Department of Telecom to submit an affidavit explaining if the government could issue directives to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block porn sites, particularly those having child pornography after service providers told the court that they could not block such sites with a government order.

The petition, which seeks a ban on porn sites, argues that the “obscene” content available online led sex crimes against women and children.

"The sexual content that kids are accessing today is far more graphic, violent, brutal, deviant and destructive and has put entire society in danger, so also safety threats to public order in India. The petitioner most respectfully submits that most of the offences committed against women/girls/children are fuelled by pornography. The worrying issue is the severity and gravity of the images are increasing. It is a matter of serious concern that pre-pubescent children are being raped," it had said.

“At best, the IPC only recognises the offences of obscenity, kidnapping, abduction and other related offences which are not sufficient to tackle the issue of pornography, and such videos," it had said, adding that watching and sharing obscene videos should be made non-bailable and cognisable offence. — PTI