New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to immediately entertain a plea seeking a nationwide ban on pornography, cautioning against extreme measures and pointing to recent unrest in Nepal following a similar prohibition. “Look what happened in Nepal over a ban,” the bench remarked. This was in reference to the protests that erupted in Nepal earlier this year after restrictions and bans on social media were imposed.
A bench led by Chief Justice BR Gavai, said it would hear the matter after four weeks. The petition also asked the Centre to frame a national policy to curb access to pornographic content, particularly among minors, and to prevent viewing such material in public spaces.
‘No mechanism to prevent minors from accessing explicit content’
The petitioner argued that digital access has made explicit content widely available, across education and age barriers. The pandemic-induced spike in device usage among schoolchildren, the plea claimed there is no effective mechanism or legal framework to prevent minors from accessing pornographic material.
The petition also cited estimates suggesting billions of pornographic websites exist and claimed that over 20 crore explicit videos, including those involving minors, are circulated in India. It urged the government to exercise its powers under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act to block such platforms.
The petitioner also said that stronger state intervention is necessary to safeguard young minds aged 13-18. The court has agreed to examine the issue after a month.