Legal Analysis on Pornography

Beautiful beaches have a natural trap called 'Quicksand'. When a person walks over it, he sinks down and it pushes the water out creating a vacuum effect that captivate the victim tighter and tighter giving almost no way to rescue. This is what porn doing to millions every day. A tricking question may arise as to- “can porn be termed as a new drug?”

Famous neuroscientists Valerie Voon in 2014, identified that all forms of online entertainments like- gambling, gaming, surfing, social networking- porn has the strongest tendency to be addictive and internet porn viewers experience the same reaction in brain as an addictive drug user. He analyses that “when porn enters the brain, it triggers the ejaculation of two vital neurotransmitters Dopamine and DeltaFosB which can be considered as the switch of addiction.”

After realizing the dangerous effect of Pornography on the citizens, States around the world are imposing restrictions or even banning pornography altogether to save the future of the country. Bangladesh, following the trend, in section 8 of the Pornography Control Act, 2012 has scathingly restricted pornography with massive range of penalty. Under section 8 (1), any act capturing video or still pictures of sexual intercourse of  behavior exposing sexual sensation, with or without consent of parties, who are in sexual interaction, will be punishable with imprisonment maximum for 8 years and 2 lacs taka fine. Section 8(6) prescribes making porn video with minor is a major offense having penalty of 10 years in jail and 5 lacs taka fine.

Recently, after hearing a writ petition on banning porn the High Court Division has ordered the concerning authorities along with 5 mobile operators to block all the websites containing porn or vulgar content for 6 months. A recent survey by an NGO 'Manusher Jonno Foundation' was placed before the Court during the hearing, showing 77% of school-going children addicted to porn. The court also issued a role seeking reasonable explanation regarding possibility of permanent blockage of porn sites and inclusion of provision on mandatory NID (National Identity Card) number attachment in all social media, as a standard of minimum age requirements.  

Evnat Bhuiyan

Department of Law, Jagannath University