New Delhi: In an apparent bid to clean the internet of obscene content, the Communications and IT ministry has ordered Internet Service Providers (ISP) to block 240 websites, which supposedly offer escort services.
The government has asked the ISPs to block the access to these websites under the Information Technology Rules, 2009.
According to the report by TOI the websites that need to be banned, includes pinkysingh.com, jasmineescorts.com, onlyoneescorts.com, payalmalhotra.in, localescorts.in, pearlpatel.in, kavyajain.in, xmumbai.in, shimi.in and anchu.in. However, an effective ban on these websites could still take time.
Some of the websites ordered to be blocked are still accessible.
An industry source speaking to the media said that this ban is a non-starter from the beginning. He further pointed out that a ban on these sites will result in several others mushrooming under different names. Coders can easily retain the same name by just changing one alphabet and it takes just a few minutes to do so.
This is not the first time that the government has taken a step towards censoring the internet. A similar step last year to block 857 websites that had adult content had backfired.
The government was ultimately forced to revoke the ban following severe criticism. At that time too, the government was accused of indulging in Internet censorship.
