India orders hundreds of porn sites blocked

New Delhi

 India has ordered more than 800 porn sites blocked for "objectionable" content, a government official said yesterday, igniting a row about freedom of speech in the world's biggest democracy.

 The telecommunications department has directed Internet service providers (ISPs) to block 857 websites, in the right-wing government's first major crackdown on online pornography.

 "We have written to the ISPs asking them to control free and open access to objectionable websites," N.N. Kaul, a department spokesman, said.

 Since the weekend, users across India have been hit with blank pages when they try to access adult sites, many of them based outside the country - sparking anger on social media about moral policing.

 According to the adult site Pornhub, India was its fourth largest source of traffic behind the United States, Britain and Canada in 2014.

 Kaul said the order was issued after India's top court voiced concern last month about the government's failure to block child porn sites in India.

 "There is currently no system to filter specific websites. We are looking into evolving a system," Kaul said, adding that until then all sites would be blocked.