The blocking of porn websites in India, which started with Reliance Jio last week, seems to have permeated to other networks. Now, Airtel and Vodafone also appear to have shut access to the 827 pornographic websites, after the order from High Court of Uttarakhand.
Last week, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) instructed internet service providers to block websites which host so-called pornographic content, a list which contained 827 websites. The order didn’t go down well with many internet users, which is backed by the fact that India is the third-largest consumer of porn online, after the US and the UK.
The online outrage, made up largely of memes about the state of Jio users, could be seen across Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, and other social media platforms. Some were more thoughtful and questioned the decision mostly because it was reversed by the government back in 2015 when the DoT had ordered a similar blanket ban.
Naturally, some memes implored Jio users to consider migrating to other “liberal” networks. However, that would not be of any use now. Airtel also seem to have blocked at least the more popular porn websites.
Most Airtel users at Beebom were unable to access porn on mobile data, while some could access it by turning on DNS protection. The current state on Vodafone is still sketchy with a fluctuating spot between allowing and blocking the websites.
Of course, there are ways to access the block sites, using VPNs or proxy sites to bypass the lock-out.
One of the most popular providers of pornographic content – Pornhub – also showed its empathy towards Indians and shared a simple solution.
That’s just the mobile service providers; many broadband providers have also blocked access to the sites to comply with the DoT diktat based on the court’s ruling.
But not all providers have blocked access yet:
In the end, it makes us wonder if this halfway ban is even working let alone preventing crimes against women, which seems to have been the primary reason behind the High Court ruling. if porn sites are actually easily accessible, then there isn’t really a ban, at least not a serious one, or perhaps there’s something amiss in the way it’s been implemented by the telcos and service providers considering the government overturned the last ban.
