{"id":5078,"date":"2017-12-20T22:11:21","date_gmt":"2017-12-21T05:11:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nigerianews.ca\/?p=5078"},"modified":"2017-12-20T22:15:37","modified_gmt":"2017-12-21T05:15:37","slug":"shocking-no-condom-ad-tv-6am-10pm-govt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nigerianews.ca\/shocking-no-condom-ad-tv-6am-10pm-govt\/","title":{"rendered":"SHOCKING: No condom ad on TV from 6am – 10pm : Govt"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u00a0Dec 20, 2017: On Monday, December 18, 2017, \u00a0India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issued an advisory to the country’s 857 television channels requiring them to immediately cease airing condom commercials between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. The statement prohibits “advertisements of condoms which are for a particular age group and could be indecent\/inappropriate for viewing by children.”<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

On Tuesday, the second-most populous nation in the world woke to headlines like\u00a0“Govt bans condom ads from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. because they are ‘indecent'” and “Ban on condom ads symptom of schizophrenia over sexuality, morality.”<\/p>\n

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Online outrage was immediate, with citizens lampooning the ban, the timing and the moral policing. One site satirized the news, thanking the government for saving Indian culture. A tweeter noted that showing racy condom ads after 10 p.m. would be counterproductive, because people would be having unprotected sex, not watching TV, by then.<\/p>\n

But there are supporters of the ban. Some said watching condom ads with family during prime time \u2014 such as a recent one starring Bollywood actress Sunny Leone and a male companion, who begin to disrobe for a tryst \u2014 is embarrassing. And others agree it’s best to protect children from exposure to this manner of “vulgar” programming. The YouTube video (below) is described as an “Age-restricted video (based on Community Guidelines).”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

But the general response is of alarm \u2013 not just about censorship and a chilling effect on creative advertising \u2014 but also about India’s exploding population. Data projections indicate that India, with an estimated population of 1.32 billion, is poised to have 1.7 billion citizens by 2050, overtaking China. Contraception \u2014 particularly condom usage \u2014 is falling, according to official figures from the latest National Family Health Survey, which covers the years 2015 and 2016.<\/p>\n