PIL against Internet pornography: What the petitioners want SC to do

The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Centre over tackling pornography following a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by a lawyer seeking a curb on pornographic sites on the internet, particularly those showing child pornography. The petition filed through advocate Vijay Panjwani said the absence of Internet laws encourages people to watch porn videos and as it is not an offence, over 20 crore porn videos or clippings are freely available in the market, which are directly been downloaded through Internet or other video CDs. “The sexual content that kids are accessing today is far more graphic, violent, brutal, deviant and destructive and has put entire society in danger so 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 petition said. [caption id=“attachment_702408” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The cause of offences against women? Reuters[/caption] The petition also referred to the 16 December Delhi gangrape case in which a 23-year-old paramedical student was physically and sexually assaulted by six persons after which she died. “Offenders’ minds are mostly fuelled by pornography as the sexual offender or rapist achieve his gratification not from sexual release alone but also from the thrill of domination, control and power,” it said. It added that only distribution, production and sharing of porn videos and clippings are offences here. “At best, the IPC only recognises the offences of obscenity, kidnapping, abduction, and other related offences which are not sufficient to tackle the issue of pornography, and such videos,” it said, adding that watching and sharing obscene videos should be made as non-bailable and cognisable offence. With inputs from PTI