Legality of online pornography under constitutional law

Abstract

These abstract attempts to elicit the approach, which the analysts have used to scan the present scenario in terms of Legal Status of Pornography in India. The strict sense of the articulation 'Pornography' is "to demonstrate or show sexual demonstrations in mastermind to provoke sexual incitement by books, films, etc" This would include clear sites, decent matter produced using computer and use of the web to download and transmit clear recordings, compositions, pictures, photos, etc. Although the Indian Constitution provides freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a), such freedom is subject to reasonable restrictions under Article 19(2) such as morality and decency. The Information Technology Act, 2000 (amended in 2008) makes the online transmission of obscene content a criminal act (Section 67), but does not make mere viewing an offense. In Kamlesh Vaswani v. Union of India[1] (2015), the Supreme Court weighed banning pornography outright but maintained a partial ban on child pornography and non-consent content while keeping access to adult content subject to conditions. Follow-up judgments and government decisions, like blocking porn sites (2018), have led to controversies regarding privacy, censorship, and excess. This article examines India's legal system, judicial trends, and the conflict between personal freedoms and state-mandated moral controls in the digital era. Although the Indian Constitution provides freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a), such freedom is subject to reasonable restrictions under Article 19(2) such as morality and decency. The Information Technology Act, 2000 (amended in 2008) makes the online transmission of obscene content a criminal act (Section 67), but does not make mere viewing an offense. In Kamlesh Vaswani v. Union of India (2015), the Supreme Court weighed banning pornography outright but maintained a partial ban on child pornography and non-consent content while keeping access to adult content subject to conditions. Follow-up judgments and government decisions, like blocking porn sites (2018), have led to controversies regarding privacy, censorship, and excess. This article examines India's legal system, judicial trends, and the conflict between personal freedoms and state-mandated moral controls in the digital era.