A visitor takes pictures of an adult film actress while she performs during the Eros Show in the Bulgarian capital Sofia March 25, 2009. (Photo : REUTERS/STOYAN NENOV/FILES)
The Indian government lifted the restriction on over 800 porn websites on Aug. 5 following the blanket ban labeled as anti-freedom by the Indian public.
Websites featuring child pornography were not included in the lift. Sites tracked by Cert-in, the government's agency on cyber security will also remain restricted.
On Aug. 3, the authorities gave directions to Internet Service Providers across India to ban porn websites. The world's most popular pornography sites, including Pornhub and Redtube, have been replaced by blank pages on most major internet service providers including Vodafone, MTNL, ACT, Hathway and BSNL.
There was no known official warning from the government so the sudden restricted access to porn hubs was a surprise to patrons of matured content, Hindustan Times reported.
Surveillance by government agents detected that Porn Websites included content in hyperlinks and videos that encouraged anti-social behavior, CNET reported.
The Indian Supreme Court had ruled against the ban on pornography on July 9, reasoning that the prohibition limits civil liberties. Chief Justice H.L Dattu noted that a person of legal age may watch legal content in his private space.
The court, however, noted that the ruling remains an interim order. During hearings held in August 2014, it was agreed that widespread porn viewing is becoming a serious issue in the Indian society. During those discussions, the government had said it will look into policies that could see crackdowns in adult-viewing internet portals.
Pornography is widespread and habitual in the country labeled as "Kamasutra Land". Globally popular adult site PornHub listed India as one of their top four markets in 2014.
Following the ban, emailing porn materials and offline sharing of files has replaced online streaming.
