The Department of Telecommunications in India, a government agency, ordered the immediate blocking of more than 800 web sites, most of which host or display pornography.
Telecom operators in India complied with the request by the Indian government, as they have to operate under license.
An ongoing lawsuit filed several years ago by conservative anti-pornography advocates in India, was turned down early last month; that decision by the Supreme Court ordered that pornographic web sites should be accessible per the “personal freedom” of India’s adult citizens.
The blocking of pornographic web sites in India sent many protesting about the right to access the uncensored parts of the Internet.
Some statements on a Reddit post were scalding the decision to block the most popular pornographic destinations for Indians:
“Dude, what the fuck? I thought this was India. Not fucking Saudi Arabia… Why do these idiots do this shit?! There is no way you can actually ban porn in India.”
The arguments over the purpose and legality of such a decision spilled over on Twitter, with many commentators preparing for “war”:
The subject of Internet censorship in India should provide plenty of discussion fodder during the upcoming DomainX 2015 Conference in Bangalore; DomainX 2015 takes place on August 7 and 8, 2015.