In India, a new law has been introduced that has made indulging in Internet pornography a serious criminal offense.

Those found guilty of visiting porn sites and/or downloading pornographic images can now be sentenced to five years in prison and fined 1,000,000 Rupees. Those found guilty of a second offense could face up to seven years imprisonment.

This is all due to the Information Technology (Amendment) Bill, which was passed last week without debate. This law treats those that distribute and those who view the material in the same manner. The law also allows inspectors to raid the homes of those suspected of viewing or posting porn without a warrant.

Another amendment to India’s Internet porn law allows any government agency to interrupt, monitor or decrypt any information generated, transmitted, received or stored in any computer.

The Information Technology (Amendment) Bill also includes harsher penalties for identity theft and “cyber terrorism.”