SC calls action plan to curb online porn an issue of paramount public importance

THe sublime margaret court on mon called a subject sue plan to curb minors watching online pornographic videos an issue of “paramount public importance” while allowing a petition seeking this direction to be considered as a representation to the Union government.The court said that the issue requires urgent consideration as minors are increasingly indulging in sexual crimes due to easy access to obscene videos and material on the Internet. “The issue raised is of paramount public importance. However, the subject issue is not a question of law to be determined by courts. It needs a policy primarily on the use of technological advancement,” said a bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, as it heard advocate BL Jain’s petition.Advocate Varun Thakur, who appeared for Jain, said that pornographic content is causing excessive psychological distress in the minds of minors, which is unhealthy and is driving them to sexual crimes.The bench said such issues fall within the domain of experts and authorities, especially the ministry of information technology. It allowed the petition to be forwarded to the concerned ministry. “We have no reason to doubt that the authorities will give due attention to such concerns raised by the petitioner.”Thakur argued that the issue raises a legal question. He pointed out that the Information Technology Act, 2000, criminalises the dissemination of pornographic videos but does not punish watching such content. Due to this gap, the authorities are unable to curb access to such content online, he added.The bench observed, “You want to bring the moon on earth that we cannot do.” Disposing of the petition, it said that the concerned authority shall decide on the prayer of the petition to frame a national policy and draft an action plan on watching pornographic videos, especially by minors.The petition said minors are exposed to electronic gadgets with the Internet since the Covid pandemic, when schools were forced to shift their classroom to online mode. It added that there is no mechanism to restrain minors from watching pornography on these devices.The plea said over 20 million porn videos or clippings, including child pornography, were launched through the Internet each year. It added that the authorities have the power to issue directions for blocking public access to any information through any computer resource. But this has hardly been effective in dealing with pornography.