Pornography in India
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Pornography in India is illegal in all forms including print media, electronic media, and digital media (OTT). Hosting, displaying, uploading, modifying, publishing, transmitting, storing, updating or sharing pornography is illegal in India.[1][2][3][4] India's Supreme Court has said that "OTT regulation is a necessity as some OTT's [such as] ALTT and Ullu show nudity, obscenity and even porn, because of the absence of any proper rules and regulation."[5][6]
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On 22 August 2023, the Government of India assured that it would bring rules and regulation to check vulgar and obscene content on social media and OTT platforms.[7][8][9] On 14 March 2024, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting banned eighteen OTT apps from the Google Play store and suspended all 57 of their social media accounts, as well as closed 19 streaming websites. The banned platforms are MoodX, Prime Play, Hunters, Besharams, Rabbit movies, Voovi, Fugi, Mojflix, Chikooflix, Nuefliks, Xtramood, Neon X VIP, X Prime, Tri Flicks, Uncut Adda, Dreams Films, Hot Shots VIP, and Yessma.[10][11][12] On 25 July 2025, the Ministry banned 25 OTT apps from the Google Play store and all 40 of their social media accounts, as well as closed 26 streaming websites. The banned platforms include ALTT, Ullu, Big Shots App, Desiflix, Boomex, NeonX VIP, Navarasa Lite, Gulab App, Kangan App, Bull App, ShowHit, Jalva App, Wow Entertainment, Look Entertainment, Hitprime, Fugi, Feneo, ShowX, Sol Talkies, Adda TV, HotX VIP, Hulchul App, MoodX, Triflicks, Mojflix.[13][14]
Legality
- The selling and distribution of pornographic material is illegal in India under section 292 of the Indian Penal Code.[15]
- The distribution, sale, or circulation of obscene materials and the selling of pornographic content to any person under age 20 years are illegal under section 293 and IT Act-67B.[16]
- Child pornography is illegal and strictly prohibited across the country under section 67B of the Information Technology Act, 2000[17]
- The manufacturing, publishing and distribution of pornography are illegal under sections 292 and 293.[18]
- In 2022, the Department of Telecommunications (DOT) banned 63 porn websites as per the IT Act (2021 Amendment).[19][20][21]
Types of publication
Summarize
Perspective
Studies have found that print media is less widely accessible than internet media in India. A randomized survey of 96 random vendors, such as video stores, mobile downloads/recharge stores and cybercafés, in Haryana found that 17% displayed pornography openly, 34% displayed it semi-openly, and 49% kept it hidden.[22] It is possible that cultural taboos[23] and legal issues (such as those described below) make it more desirable to view pornography in India through Internet media, such as computers or smartphones, for more privacy.[3]
Internet
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Internet pornography has become very popular in India with from 30% up to 70% of total traffic from porn websites. It has become a major portion of traffic and source of data revenue for telecom companies.[24][3] A popular porn site released viewership data and national capital Delhi recorded up to 40% of all traffic.[25]
One self reporting survey found that 63% of youths in urban areas such as Haryana reported watching pornography, with 74% accessing it through their mobile phones.[22] As smartphone and internet access in India continues to increase, more people will be able to privately view pornography.[26] Quartz has found that 50% of Indian IP addresses accessed popular pornography websites on mobile phones. Online erotic comics have also become popular in India as the internet becomes more readily available to the common citizen.[27]
Judicial opinion
Summarize
Perspective
In July 2015, the Supreme Court of India refused to allow the blocking of pornographic websites and said that watching pornography indoors in the privacy of one's own home was not a crime.[28] Later in 2015, the DOT banned 857 pornographic websites, lifted the ban again, and then asked ISPs to ban only such websites where there is child pornography.[29][30][31]
The Supreme Court of India, in Khoday Distilleries Ltd. and Ors. v. State of Karnataka and Ors. – (1995) 1 SCC 574, held that there is no fundamental right to carry on the business of exhibiting and publishing pornographic or obscene films and literature.[32]
Kamlesh Vaswani vs. Union of India and Ors in 2013 (diary 5917, 2013), a public interest litigation (PIL) petition was filed in the Supreme Court seeking a ban on pornography in India.[33] The Court issued a notice to the central government and sought its response. The government informed the Court that the Cyber Regulation Advisory Committee constituted under Section 88 of the IT Act, 2000 was assigned with a brief with regard to availability of pornography on the Internet and it was looking into the matter.[33]
On 26 January 2016, the Supreme Court in written order, instructed the government "to suggest the ways and means so that these activities are curbed. The innocent children cannot be made prey to these kind of painful situations, and a nation, by no means, can afford to carry any kind of experiment with its children in the name of liberty and freedom of expression. When we say nation, we mean each member of the collective".[34]
The Supreme Court has said that it can't stop an adult from viewing pornography or sexually explicit material in private spaces, citing Article 21 (the right to personal liberty) of the Indian constitution.[35]
On 18 February 2015, the organization Prajwala submitted Videos of Sexual Violence and Recommendations, a suo moto PIL filed in the Supreme Court (Diary No. 6818, 2015). Prajwala pleaded with the court to stop the rampant circulation of rape videos through the mobile application WhatsApp. The Supreme Court has ordered a CBI probe to find and arrest the culprits clearly visible in the videos.[36]
Socio-cultural attitudes
Many sex related topics, such as pornography, are considered taboo in traditional Indian households.[23] This trend seems to be rapidly changing, especially in urbanized cities. Researchers have found that the primary sex education of low-income college youth born in the late 1970s to early 1980s in India comes from pornography and conversations amongst their peers, based on focus group discussions, interviews, and surveys.[37] However, due to the internet and increased access for the common citizen, pornography has slowly entered the public discourse, most notably with the outrage towards a 2015 government order to censor 857 websites that contained explicit materials.[38]
In 2011, Sunny Leone's participation in one of India's most popular reality shows, Bigg Boss, initiated debate about the place of pornography in the country. The ratings and tolerance for her appearance was noted in contrast with India's cultural attitudes on sex. Leone was recruited by director Mahesh Bhatt at the Bigg Boss house for her first Bollywood film, Jism 2.[39][40]
Homosexual pornography
Homosexual pornography is not widely available in print, due to the socio-culture taboo surrounding both pornography and homosexuality (see LGBT culture in India). However, Indian IP addresses access both lesbian and gay porn using the internet, with a 213% increase in searches for gay porn from 2013 to 2014.[41] Additionally, the most popular search for pornography amongst females in India, centers on lesbian and gay pornography.[citation needed]
Violence
Important people[who?] in media have argued that censoring pornography would decrease rapes in India. There has not been a link between pornography being a significant factor in the rate of crime and violence in India.[42] On the contrary, in other countries, increased availability of porn has been correlated with lower rates of sexual violence.[43][44][45]
Sex
Some studies have speculated that pornography influences sex work in India.[46][47][48] For instance, one study of 555 female sex workers found that 45% self-reported pornographic influence driving clientele desire for anal sex.[47] In another study, female sex workers reported being asked to perform new sexual acts such as anal sex, masturbation and different sex positions, requests that they believed were due to an increased exposure to pornography.[48] The implications of such work is currently unclear for public health policy in India.[citation needed]
See also
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Notes
References
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External links
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