Difficult to ban international porn websites: Centre to SC

Zee Media Bureau New Delhi: In what can be called as a setback to the Government’s efforts to put a ban on pornographic websites, the central government has told the Supreme Court that it is tough to block international porn websites in India. A bench headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir had issued notices to ministries of Information and Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Home Affairs and Internet Service Providers Association of India in April on a plea by Kamlesh Vaswani . The above mentioned statement by govt was issued in response to this very Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Mr Vaswani. His plea said children now had easy access to pornography on the internet and there was a need to block such websites in order to stop crimes against women. The petition says “The sexual content that kids are accessing today is far more graphic, violent, brutal, deviant and destructive and has put entire society in danger as 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 is increasing. It is a matter of serious concern that prepubescent children are being raped."

The government was supposed to file an affidavit on the issue today, but sought more time from the court, saying it needed to consult with different ministries. To this request, the court remarked, "It is a serious issue and government must act. How long does it take to call the meeting of concerned people?" It also gave the Centre four weeks to work with various ministries and come up with a solution on the issue. (With Agency inputs)