Should India ban porn? Minister Milind Deora on the debate

New Delhi: The Junior Minister for Information and Technology says experts have to be consulted on whether porn is provoking sexual violence.  "I think we need some consensus as a society if such material causes violence," he said to NDTV. 

One of the two suspects arrested for raping a 5-year-old in Delhi has reportedly said they watched porn on a mobile phone hours before they abducted and tortured her.

The Supreme Court had also last week sought response from the government on a plea to block and ban porn sites on the Internet, particularly those showing child pornography, as these are a major cause of crime against women.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir issued notices to ministries of Information and Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Home Affairs and Internet Service Providers Association of India on a petition seeking to bring an anti pornography law.


Highlights of Milind Deora's interview

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• I don't have a view on whether someone watching such things (pornography), obscene to someone, can trigger violence.
• If the ministry of IT and the government decides to censor it, then we will find ways to do it.
•  We are a liberal society and we don't want to get in the space of censoring content. 
• I think that the best people who can answer that are really people like social scientists , psychologists, sociologists who understand the co-relation between watching some thing like that and it leading to violence.
  
• If the Supreme Court or the judiciary takes a decision and passes an order  which we have to follow, the government has to follow we will obviously do that.
  
• US has taken a decision on violent video games after consulting social scientists.
• Need to be explore much further if pornography leading to such issues.
• I do think we have to find ways -may be keep it away from children.
• It is difficult to regulate the internet. There are proxy servers but perhaps I think we need some consensus as a society if such material causes violence, then we can find ways of curbing it.
• I am not in the ministry that decides what to ban and what not to ban.
• We only follow orders from different ministries.
• We tend to say this seems to be bad and we need to ban, it in a jerk.  But it's important to consult people involved in law and order. Its important to consult psychologists or social scientists.
  
• The government can initiate important legislations.
  
• The crux of the problem comes down to what we are doing in our homes and our families.
• I sympathize with young protesters.
  
• Some protesters do it cause they really want to see a safer India.
  
• There is an element of also we as a society protesting against our own apathy, our own inability to discuss this issues within our homes.
  
• Sack somebody, death sentence, capital punishment-these are reactions. We should put this issue as what are we as a society doing.
  
  
  
  
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