With the advent of smartphones and easy access to mobile applications, porn traffic is on the rise. IT capital Bengaluru is becoming infamous for the highest porn traffic.
Mirza Faizan, who owns a law firm specialising in cyber crime and Intellectual Property Rights, pointed out that access to adult porn sites starts out of curiosity and ends up as a business. Any person with a smartphone can access and download porn clips. Separate groups are created on WhatsApp to circulate and exchange adult content. Adult websites, over which investigating agencies have limited power, are involved in illegal business worth billions of rupees through memberships, while porn sites carry popup ads, he said. A senior police officer said that persons who upload videos also get a share of the revenue. With the arrest of Koushik Kounr on Thursday, the cyber crime police have stepped up surveillance of porn websites.
“Possessing porn content for personal consumption is not an offence unless it is being circulated to make money or harm the interests of any person,” said a senior police officer with the cyber crime division. The cyber crime police can investigate such cases based on the complaint. They can also take up suo motu cases if something is affecting the national interest.
However, Mr. Faizan said the Information Technology Act clearly specifies online pornography as a punishable offence.
Possessing porn content for personal consumption is not an offence, unless it is being circulated to make money or harm a person.
Senior police officercyber crime division
