Pornography of place: Location, leaks and obscenity in the Indian MMS porn video

Abstract This paper examines the phenomenon of MMS pornography in India. ‘MMS’ or Multimedia Messaging Service refers to a communication technology that allows the sharing of multimedia files over cellphone networks. In India however, the term ‘MMS’ has become attached to pornographic clips that are shared over mobile phone networks or the Internet. Through an examination of two limit cases, ‘The Mysore-Mallige Scandal’ (2001) and the ‘Delhi Metro MMS Scandal’ (2014) this paper argues that the negotiation of space and place is integral to the production, circulation and ultimately the affective impact of such videos. In particular, I seek to extend the definition of the MMS clip by examining the play between place and affect. In doing so, I argue that MMS pornography is a symptom of a larger spatial problem of the digital age – the problem of the ‘leak’.

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