Serious concern over South Africa’s Internet censorship bill

Hopes have been dashed that new regulations would clarify and untangle the mess of the Films and Publications Amendment Bill, also referred to as the Internet Censorship Bill. Have your say at this link; https://dearsouthafrica.co.za/fpb2020/

Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams published new draft Films and Publications Amendment Regulations for public comment in the Government Gazette on 3 July 2020.

Legal experts told MyBroadband that among the problems that remain unaddressed by the regulations is the fact that the Film and Publications Board (FPB) seems to want to appoint itself as an arbiter of what is, and what is not, protected speech.

While exemptions are created for media who are members of the Press Council of South Africa or an advertiser who is a member of the Advertising Standards Authority (now known as the Advertising Regulatory Board), the law as written tries to give the FPB jurisdiction over everyone else.

Public comments for the new Films and Publications Amendment Regulations are currently open until 17 August.

Serious concern over South Africa’s Internet censorship bill

Hopes were dashed that new regulations would clarify and untangle the mess of the Films and Publications Amendment Bill, also referred to as the Internet Censorship Bill.


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