The dissident pleasures of pornography

In 2009, the Indian Government blocked the much-loved Savita Bhabi website created by the pseudonymous Deshmukh, Dexter and Mad. The Savita Bhabi, 'sister-in-law Savita', website carries a daily cartoon strip about the "Sexual Adventures of the Hot Indian Bhabi" who is described as a "regular Indian woman who just can't get enough sex". In June 2009, the Government of India instructed internet service providers to block the site under Section 67 of the Information Technology (IT) Act which prohibits the publication and transmission of "any material which is lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest" or whose effect could "corrupt and deprave", and also under certain amended provisions that were included after the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks. These provisions allow for the censoring of material deemed threatening to the "the sovereignty or integrity of India, defence and security of the state".

In an age of proliferating hardcore cyber-porn, why did the government target a cartoon strip as a 'moral and national threat'? N Vijayaditya, the Controller of Certifying Authorities – the agency entrusted under the IT Act to block websites – stated that the office had acted on "several complaints" made against the site. The demise (not really, since you can access the site through proxy servers) of India's best loved bhabi was mourned by thousands of online admirers.