Deputy home affairs minister Malusi Gigaba’s plan to fast-track the drafting of a law that will compel Internet service providers to filter adult content on their networks has telecommunications industry players concerned.
They say the bill is not practical.
Earlier this year, the Justice Alliance of SA (Jasa) produced a draft Pornography Bill, which holds Internet and mobile providers legally responsible if their users download porn onto their computers.
Jasa produced the document at the request of the Film & Publication Board.
Providers did not give the proposal much credence since it had yet to receive the backing of government. Now, though, operators are concerned Jasa’s document will be taken through the law-making process.
One of SA’s largest Internet providers, Internet Solutions, says the proposed legislation is akin to using a sledgehammer to kill a fly.
Regulatory director Siyabonga Madyibi says the definitions in the bill are too broad. “It seems to want to ban pornography in its entirety, instead of just banning porn for minors,” he says.
Madyibi says the intention of the bill — blocking minors’ access to porn — is noble, but there are other ways of tackling the issue.
“We can and do flag sites that contain adult content. With that, we can then force an Internet user to prove their age before allowing access to those sites,” he says.
According to Madyibi, this option is far cheaper and more practical to implement, especially if you combine it with the criminalisation of distributing porn to minors.
In its current form, the bill has harsh penalties for Internet providers that carry porn on their networks and Madyibi says it comes across as draconian.
“You don’t punish Volkswagen because an unlicensed minor stole his dad’s car. It’s the same situation with the porn bill,” he says.
Web Africa CEO Matthew Tagg says the bill as proposed is not practical to implement.
He says filtering solutions implemented in the UK and Australia, both of which resulted in service providers forking over huge amounts of money, had little impact.
“A filtering solution like this needs hardware and software and skills to implement, all of which have high costs. The costs could put many Internet service providers out of business,” he says.
Lumko Mtimde, CEO of the Media Development and Diversity Agency, says some balance needs to be struck between service providers and the protection of children.
“The question that needs to be asked is to what extent can this bill help all players without hindering, even unintentionally, the professions involved in the process,” he says. — Candice Jones, TechCentral
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