Pornography and law associated with it-The hindu- 13-09-2022

GS-1
SOCIAL ISSUE
CONTEXY :

The Supreme Court did not entertain a plea advocating a link between watching Internet
porn and sex crimes, including child abuse.

What do you mean by Pornography?
The word pornography is defined as “anything is written, any photograph, any movie etc. intended to arouse sexual excitement.”
What do you mean by child pornography?
Any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a child which includes a photograph, video, digital or computer-generated image indistinguishable from an actual child and an image created, adapted, or modified but appeared to depict a child.
Impact of pornography:
Pornography and cybersex are highly addictive and can lead to sexually compulsive behaviours (that decrease a person’s capacity to perform other major tasks in life.
Intense use of pornography is strongly related to sexual aggression, and among frequent viewers of pornography, there is a marked increase in sexual callousness, including rape myth acceptance.
Pornography also promotes sexual compulsiveness, which doubles the likelihood of being infected with a sexually transmitted disease.
Heavy exposure to pornography leads men to judge their mates as sexually less attractive which affects social life.

Law governing pornography :
Section 292 of the IPC exclusively dealt with the sale, distribution, public exhibition or circulation of any obscene book, drawing, painting, etc.
Section 293 of the IPC makes it illegal to sell, distribute, exhibit or circular obscene objects to anyone under the age of 20 years.
Section 294 makes it a crime to do any obscene act or sing obscene songs in any public place.
The IT Act 2000 makes it illegal to publish or transmit obscene material or material containing sexually explicit acts in electronic form.
Section 67 of the Act makes it illegal to publish or transmit obscene material in electronic form. This material, it says, can be anything which is lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest or if its effect is such as to tend to deprave and corrupt” people who watch it, read or hear it. Anybody who does this can be punished with a three-year jail term along with Rs 5 lakh as a fine.

Section 67A of the IT Act provides the punishment for publishing or transmitting material containing sexually explicit acts, etc., in electronic form. Anyone who “publishes or transmits or causes to be published or transmitted” any sexually explicit material can be punished with a jail term of five years along with Rs 10 lakh as a fine.