The Internet Service Providers’ Association of SA (Ispa) has teamed up with the SA Police Service and the Film and Publications Board to combat child pornography in SA.

Ispa regulatory advisor Dominic Cull says the organisation is committed to preventing children from becoming victims of pornography crimes.

However, he warns that government must not to confuse the two separate issues of online child pornography and the exposure of children to pornographic images through the Internet.

“While Ispa is taking an active role in the fight against child pornography, we do not believe that it is feasible for our members to become watchdogs tasked with protecting children from all online pornography, as has been recently suggested,” he says.

The organisation may not police all pornography. However, it has agreed to help develop awareness campaigns and help educate customers on how to prevent children from accessing unwanted content on the Internet.

“Ispa accepts that the relative ease with which minors in SA are able to access pornographic content online and offline is of concern to society. But it is important to remember that the challenge of dealing with this is a responsibility shared by a number of involved parties,” says Cull.

However, he says a blanket ban on pornography will lead to an increase in the cost to access the Internet without actually making pornography inaccessible to the public.

“Nevertheless, we will — together with the department of home affairs, the department of communications, the Independent Communications Authority of SA and the Film and Publications Board — work within the existing legal framework to ensure greater protection for the young people of SA when going online,” he says.

Earlier this year, the department of home affairs had industry in an uproar after it attempted to fast track a document that proposed a legislative framework to ban all forms of pornography in SA.

However, after meeting with the association, the ministry decided that legislation should be a last resort and called on industry to help educate parents and protect children from online adult content. — Staff reporter, TechCentral