Through the proposed regulations, a clampdown on
freedom of speech looms for all internet publishers in South Africa and anyone
in the country writing a blog or even doing a Facebook posting.
The civil society watchdog organisation, The
Right2Know Campaign, in a strongly-worded statement, is now warning South
Africa, the media and citizens, and demanding that the FPB scrap the draft
Online Regulation Policy document which was gazetted on 4 March.
The watchdog organisations says the FBP must
stop the attempt to exercise "pre-publication censorship" of the internet in
South Africa.
According to the Right2Know Campaign, the
censorship regulations would infrige on the South African public's right to
freely get information – as well as to impart information – a right enshrined
in the South African Constitution.
"The target of this regulation is not just
major distributors, but also individuals," says the Right2Know Campaign. "In
terms of the wording of the document, everything published on the internet –
including blogs, personal websites and Facebook pages".
Online distribution agreement
According to the document, anyone in South
Africa – from individuals to publishers and media organisations – who wish to publish or distribute
content will have to first "apply" for a "digital publisher's online
distribution agreement" with the Film and Publication Board.
This will require
a subscription fee.
In addition, once paid, the publisher would have to
submit the content to the FPB for classification prior to publishing. "This
effectively is a specific form of pre-publication censorship, which is not
acceptable," says the Right2Know Campaign.
"Moreover, the time spent on the pre-classification
of content would undermine one of the most valuable traits of the internet –
its immediacy."
"There is also a very real threat that in the future,
organisations lacking in resources and unable to afford costly subscription
fees, such as community-oriented news outlets and civil society groups, will be
severely hampered by the unnecessarily bureaucratic regulations envisioned by
the FPB."
"These online media outlets provide a valuable
contribution to the diversity of the South African media landscape. The FPB
draft regulations will disenable this diversity."
'Classifiers' dispatched to your premises
The Right2Know Campaign says that "worryingly, the
regulations would allow the FPB to dispatch classifiers to the distributors' premises for the purposes of classifying digital content."
Furthermore "distributors would have to ensure that
the work of classifiers takes place unhindered and without interference."
"The vague wording of the regulations would allow
for 'classifiers’ to visit, for example, the homes of citizen journalists and
ordinary internet users. Such sweeping powers reek of apartheid-era censorship,
whose advocates similarly relied on the guise of moralising arguments," says
the Right2Know Campaign.
'Ignorance of how the internet works'
The Right2Know Campaign says the shocking draft
regulations "reveals a massive ignorance on the part of the FPB on how the
internet actually works."
The Right2Know Campaign says "the FPB has failed to
adequately consult with relevant stakeholders before drafting the document."
"Only industry stakeholders were invited to participate behind closed doors,
while civil society was excluded from the process despite the fact that the
regulations could have profound consequences for ordinary members of the
public."
"The Right2Know Campaign condemns this latest attempt
to broaden the power of authorities to censor and restrict publishable content
— the sort of action characteristic of an increasingly overbearing, paranoid
and insecure state."
"The Right2Know Campaign demands that the Film and
Publications Board immediately withdraw the draft online regulation policy
document."
"The FPB must desist from any attempt to regulate internet content. We
already have laws to protect our children, and laws on hate speech. The FPB's
draft online regulations smack of unnecessary censorship, are unconstitutional
and must be scrapped."
