KERALA, India — Police in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of the Indian state of Kerala are cracking down on porn in cyber cafes.
Authorities have reportedly set up a special Cyber Cell task force following directives issued by the state’s Central Home Ministry.
So far, the new porn cops have identified about 654 major sites that are the most popular online porn destinations by Internet users in the state.
The new Cyber Cell has the authority to file cases against those accessing porn in the cafes, but have been thus far lenient in their pursuits, preferring to issue stern warnings to the café owners to restrict what’s allowed.
According to ManoramaOnline.com, huge numbers of local citizens are addicted to Internet porn and include users of all ages.
The authorities' main challenge is to target greedy shop owners who allow teenagers — both male and female — to access porn on their computers under the pretext that they’re studying. The cafes are turning their heads because teens spend the most money.
But the café crackdown is reportedly only a small part of larger concern that online porn is spreading from large cities to outlying villages through mobile phones.
IT experts in the region said that cops can’t effectively police cyber cafes and are calling for them to focus on the ISPs that allow access to adult content.