South Africa’s Film And Publications Board Proposes Internet Censorship

Written by Staff

Mar 15, 2015

According to The Right2Know, the Film and Publications Board’s (FPB) has proposed to censor the internet in South Africa. According to the coalition group, the FPB wants broadly defined powers to police all content published on the Internet.

The Right2Know online portal revealed that this will include blogs, personal websites, and Facebook pages.

According to The Right2Know, it has now demanded that the Film and Publications Board scrap the Draft Online Regulation Policy document gazetted on Wednesday, 4 March 2015. The coalition group followed the statement by saying that: “The FPB must desist from any attempt to exercise pre-publication censorship of Internet content.”

Social media has been set ablaze by the proposed censorship movement. Users are now utilising the following hashtag to show that they are against the proposed censorship movement:#HandsOffOurInternet

Commenting further on the proposed censorship act, The Right2Know revealed the following in a public statement:

“The document, in its vague language and open-ended statements, would leave authorities with far too much room to infringe on the public’s right to freely receive and impart information as enshrined in chapter two of the Constitution.”

The document states that: “Any person who intends to distribute any film, game, or certain publication in the Republic of South Africa shall first comply with section 18(1) of the [1996 Films and Publications] Act by applying, in the prescribed manner, for registration as film or game and publications distributor.”