Specialized laws to address the emerging phenomenon of "deep fake" pornographic content became an active subject of law-making and litigation in the 2020s, although fictional and semi-fictional pornography have existed throughout history.
[3] (1) Whosoever: (a) makes, imports or exports, transports, receives, possesses, display in public, of fern for sale or hire, distributes or circulates writing images, posters, films or other objects which are obscene or grossly indecent, or in any other way trafficks or trades in them; or (b) advertises, indicates or makes known, by any means, how or from whom such objects may be procured or circulated, either directly or indirectly, is punishable with simple imprisonment or fine, without prejudice to the forfeiture and destruction of the incriminating material.
(2) Simple imprisonment shall be for not less than one month, and the fine, according to the circumstances, shall not exceed ten thousand dollars, where the offender: (a) habitually engages in or carries on such traffic; or Anyone who, with a view to distribution, fixes, records or transmits an image or (1) Any person who— (a) makes, produces or has in his possession any one or more obscene writings, drawings, prints, paintings, printed matter, pictures, posters, emblems, photographs, photographic negatives or prints, cinematograph films, gramophone records or other contrivances for the reproduction of sound or any other obscene objects or any other objects tending to corrupt morals; is guilty of an offence and shall be liable to a fine of K500,000 and to imprisonment for a term of [6] Pasal 29 (Article 29) (Every person who produces, makes, reproduces, duplicates, spreads, airs, imports, exports, offers, trades, rents, or provides pornography as meant in Article 4 paragraph (1) shall be punished with imprisonment of at least 6 (six) months and at most 12 (twelve) years and/or a fine of at least Rp250.000.000,00 (two hundred fifty million rupiah) and at most Rp6.000.000.000,00 (six billion rupiah).)
(4) A person who produces, reproduces, offers for sale, sells, transports, stores, exports , keeps, brings products that contain obscene content with violence, animals, dead human bodies or unatural sexual behavior into the country or makes these content available for others is punished with imprisonment from one to four years and a judicial fine of up to five thousand days.
Production, distribution, advertisement, export, import, sale, and publication of pornographic materials in environments with children, by any means or form, shall constitute criminal contravention and shall be punishable by imprisonment of up to two years.
Production, import, offering, making available, distribution, broadcasting, use, or possession of child pornography, as well as the conscious creation of access in it, by any means or form, shall be punishable by three to ten years of imprisonment.
Any person who — for the purpose of or by way of trade or for the purpose of distribution or public exhibition, makes, produces or has in his possession any one or more obscene writings, drawings, prints, paintings, printed matter, pictures, posters, emblems, photographs, films as defined in the Cinemas and Films or any other obscene objects or any other object tending to corrupt morals; or for any of the purposes above mentioned imports, conveys or exports, or causes to be imported, conveyed or exported, any such matters or things, or in any manner whatsoever puts any of them in circulation; or carries on or takes in any business, whether public or private, concerned with any such matters or things, or deals in any such matters or things in any manner whatsoever, or distributes any of them or exhibit any of them publicly, or makes a business of lending any of them; or advertises or makes known by any means whatsoever with a view to assisting the circulation of, or traffic in, any such matters or things, that a person is engaged in any of the acts referred to in this section, or advertises or makes known how, or from whom, any such matters or things can be produced either directly or indirectly; or publicly exhibits any indecent show or performance or any show or performance tending to corrupt morals, is guilty of a misdemeanour, and shall be liable to imprisonment for 2 years or to a fine of $200.
The possession of "indecent and obscene material such as pornographic books, magazines, films, videos, DVDs, Blu-Ray, VHS, and software" is prohibited in Botswana.
Pornography is legal if it does not involve any non-consenting persons (including children or those with a significant disability), can be easily traced to its creator, and does not otherwise depict a sexual offense.
[33] Nigeria has no national laws prohibiting pornography, although the public display of graphic sexual material is illegal in Lagos.
It is an offense to host a pornographic web site in South Africa because of the difficulty of age-verification and the requirement that pornography only be distributed from designated, licensed physical premises.
[41] The committee is responsible for the implementation of the law and for taking measures to detect, prohibit, collect and destroy pornographic materials.
[40] The law says that "a person shall not produce, traffic in, publish, broadcast, procure, import, export, sell or abet any form of pornography".
[44] The law repeals and replaces Section 166 of the Penal Code Act, widening the legal interpretation of pornography and prohibiting it comprehensively.
[52] However, magazine and DVD covers that depict genitalia must not be visible from public view, and pornography can only be sold to people 18 or older.
By passing the "Pornography Control Act, 2012", the government of Bangladesh prohibited the carrying, exchanging, using, selling, marketing, distributing, preserving, filming etc.
[citation needed] China's criminal code defines pornography as[62] sex-propagating books or periodicals, films, video- or audio-tapes, pictures or other pornographic articles which concretely describe sexual acts or undisguisedly publicize sexIt is illegal to sell, distribute pornography or arrange for pornographic performances in mainland China.
Prior to 1988 films with excessive nudity, violence, cursing in Chinese and drug use were not allowed to be shown in public theaters.
In July 2015 the Supreme Court of India refused to allow the blocking of pornographic websites and said that watching pornography indoors in the privacy of one's own home was not a crime.
[70] In 2015 the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had asked internet service providers to take down 857 websites in a bid to control cyber crime, but after receiving criticism from the authorities it partially rescinded the ban.
The ban from the government came after a lawyer filed a petition in the Supreme Court arguing that online pornography encourages sex crimes and rapes.
[71] In October 2018 the government directed Internet service providers to block 827 websites that host pornographic content following an order by the Uttarakhand High Court.
[72] A law passed in 2010 states any "pictures, sketches, photos, writing, voice, sound, moving picture, animation, cartoons, conversation, gestures, or other communications shown in public with salacious content or sexual exploitation that violate the moral values of society" will have offenders face up to a 15-year jail sentence.
[93] Possession, production and distribution of pornography for the purposes of trade is illegal in Thailand under section 287 of the Thai Penal Code.
[95] The ministry stated that the ban was part of the efforts to restrict access to pornography and gambling websites, which remains illegal in Thailand.
[102] In early 2013 there was a draft proposal by Ögmundur Jónasson, the Minister of the Interior, to extend the ban to online pornography to protect children from violent sexual imagery.
[113] In 2007, the Northern Territory National Emergency Response introduced by the Howard government made the possession of RC and X18+ pornography an offence in some Aboriginal communities.
This includes any pornography depicting violent BDSM, incest, paedophilia, bestiality,[115] certain extreme fetishes (such as golden showers) and/or indicators of youth (such as wearing a school uniform).
Internet pornography is also regulated but only if websites are based in New Zealand, in which case they will need consent from Department of Internal Affairs.
Under the law, persons who possess, own, import, export, sell or exhibit pornography to the public are subject to arrest and trial and can face up to six months' imprisonment and/or a fine up to 50,000 to 100,000 Papua New Guinean kina.