11 Bans From Around The World That Are Utterly Bizarre

The latest ban on the display of non-vegetarian food because it hurts people’s sentiments got us thinking…how on earth can someone come up with such absurd bans, right? Well, to our surprise, when we researched laws from around the world, we found that we are all surrounded by a crazy bunch of bans, and not just in India. Here are 11 insane things that are banned around the world and you gotta check it out now.

1. Video Games In Greece

In 2002, the government in Greece banned video games across the country. The actual intention behind this ban was to stop illegal gambling, which accidentally led to a ban on video games. So, if you are playing video games even on your home computers in Greece, you might just end up in jail. 

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2. Chewing Gum In Singapore

Back in 2004, the Singapore government put a ban on chewing gum imports. You can’t buy or sell chewing gum in the country and if you are caught doing so or spitting the gum on the streets, you will have to pay a heavy fine of $500. All this because back in 1992, someone used a chewed gum to bring the public transportation system to a halt.

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3. Ketchup Ban In French Schools

The school cafeterias in France banned ketchup because the government felt that the teenagers were consuming too much ketchup, which was somehow affecting the originality of their traditional cuisine. Imagine the kids there having to eat their fries without the ketchup.

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4. Kissing In A Moving Vehicle In Italy

In Eboli, a town in Southern Italy, kissing in a moving vehicle is banned. If you are breaking this law, it can cost you several hundred euros. To be honest, this one makes sense. If the person driving kisses someone else, it could cause an accident but what if neither of the two people are driving?

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5. Naming A Child In Denmark

Now this one’s just stupid. Denmark imposed rules on how parents could name their babies to keep Danish children safe from odd names. You can choose a name from a list of 24,000 names. In case, you want to name a child on your own, you have to get permission from government officials.

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6. Yellow T-shirts In Malaysia

Yellow, yellow, dirty fellow – it seems the Malaysians take this nursery rhyme quite seriously. Anyway, yellow is considered ‘the colour of protesters’ by the Malaysian government and so they decided to ban yellow clothing because a particular group of opposition activists was using yellow things to protest against the government.

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7. Small Breast Pornography In Australia

If this doesn’t make you go ‘WTF’, what on earth will? So, pornography isn’t banned in Australia but this particular ban was imposed because the government thought this kind of activity will encourage the average civilians to become child molesters or even worse, child rapists.

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8. Kinder Joy In USA

What harm does a chocolate surprise do to the US? Banning Kinder Joy is the stupidest of all the bans. The reason behind this ban was that the government was worried about the choking hazard that could be posed by a non-food product component, such as the small toy that comes in the case.

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9. Blue Jeans In North Korea

Do we need to say anything about the absurd things happening in North Korea? This one barely comes across as a surprise. Jeans, particularly blue jeans was banned in North Korea because the colour blue is associated with America. Duh.

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10. Dying In The Houses Of Parliament In United Kingdom

Wonder how they’ll hold people accountable if they do break this ban? You can’t die inside the House of Parliament in Britain because anyone dying inside is entitled to a state funeral and the government doesn’t want to host any more state funerals than it actually has to.

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11. Jogging In Burundi

Go for a jog and end up in jail? In the country of Burundi, jogging is considered an act of war, so one of the Presidents officially banned morning joggers to stop the conflicts between ethnic groups and they believed this law would halt the war.

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