At a meeting chaired by Telecom & IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and attended by top government officials in September, the "problem of porn" was discussed and the minister directed the departments of IT and telecom to work together to improve "blocking infrastructure" at the ISP level.
Prasad said although porn is legal in other countries, it needs to be viewed in the "context of Indian culture and moral obligation towards society".
"A solution may need to be worked out to prevent availability of pornography on the Internet considering the cultural sensitivities of the country," Arvind Gupta, head of BJP's information technology cell, conveyed to the committee, according to the minutes of the meeting reviewed by ET.
"Child pornography and pornography cannot be said in the same breath. The government has very firm legislation against it," said Vidya Reddy, director of Tulir-Centre for the Prevention and Healing of Child Sexual Abuse.