• Legality of pornography

I know that most pornographic and torrent sites are now blocked in India. However, it is still possible to access these sites using a VPN. My questions:

1) Is it legal to view and download from pornographic sites using a VPN? 
2) Is it legal to have pornographic material in one's computer for personal use?
Asked 5 years ago in Criminal Law
Religion: Hindu

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9 Answers

  1. Watching porn at home is not illegal.
  2. Saving it on your personal laptop, smartphone, storage media is also not illegal.

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
99775 Answers
8145 Consultations

1. Viewing banned websites through other means is not crime in itself. 

2. Yes.

Devajyoti Barman
Advocate, Kolkata
23653 Answers
537 Consultations

1. You may consider doing all those things that you have asked PROVIDED you are willing to be criminally prosecuted under the Indian Penal Code, the Police Act, the I.T.Act and other offences, which entitled Free Lodging & Boarding for atleast Three years in Prison.

Keep Smiling .... Hemant Agarwal
VISIT: www.chshelpforum.com

Hemant Agarwal
Advocate, Mumbai
5612 Answers
25 Consultations

Hi, You can use pornographic material for your personal use.

Pradeep Bharathipura
Advocate, Bangalore
5625 Answers
339 Consultations

1. In India, In the Information Technology Act, 2000, this is a grey region of the law, where it is not illegal but not legalized either.

2. The literal mining of the expression ‘Pornography’ is “relating or presentation sexual acts in arrange to cause sexual stimulation through books, films, etc.”

This would comprise pornographic websites, pornographic matter produced using computers & use of the internet to download & transmit pornographic videos, writings, pictures, photos, etc.

Adult entertainment is a major industry on the internet.

There are additional than 420 million human being pornographic web pages today.

The DoT order says that comfortable hosted on porn sites relay to morality & decency & is, therefore, subject to “reasonable restrictions” on the Fundamental Rights to freedom of speech & expression. 

Watching pornography no offence: IPC and IT Act
Expenditure of pornography is no offence. All so as to the law forbids is its journal or transmission

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
89977 Answers
2492 Consultations

While there are no laws that ban the use of virtual private networks in India, users should be judicious in how such services are used.

You must understand that Saving video, picture etc.. on your personal laptop, smartphone, storage media is also not illegal. Distribution/Sale/ Showcasing/ Publishing/Sending on private messages etc. is illegal. Sending porn videos/ images/texts or anything depicting sexually explicit acts (unless educational) to someone is also illegal. Whether ISPs are causing transmission of such porn into the country is a grey area but practically they will not be held responsible except for child pornography. Child Pornography, in any sense, watching, saving, sharing etc. is totally illegal.

By virtue of Section 1 of the Information Technology Act, 2000, it also applies to any offence or contravention committed outside India by any person. So even if a website is hosted in any other jurisdiction than India, one can be prosecuted in India.

if you publish anything containing a sexually explicit act, even if it is an image, you are liable for the same punishment. In such situation how can you start or operate such a business in India.  In India adult web sites are restricted as being against public morals and decency.

 

Downloading/Browsing of pornographic content where children are involved is illegal and may be prosecuted.

Ajay N S
Advocate, Ernakulam
4124 Answers
114 Consultations

sir

though majority of porn sites have been banned in india however some sites still showing it. viewing porn is not crime however sharing and watching child porn and rape videos are certainly illegal and cause legal issues. normal adult porn can be seen without any hassle. you can use vpn type technical processes for watching porn and it will not harm you legally. keeping porn in your devices is fine and there is no legal problem but do not see or share child porn or rape or other crime related porn. 

Gopender
Advocate, New Delhi
383 Answers

Watching porn at home is not illegal in India. Saving pornographic content in smart-phones, storage devices etc. is also not illegal, unless it is child pornography. 

Mohammed Mujeeb
Advocate, Hyderabad
19325 Answers
32 Consultations

It's legal only the intellectual property rights can be invoked. Only child pornography is banned

Prashant Nayak
Advocate, Mumbai
34514 Answers
249 Consultations

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