SA PLAN TO BAN INTERNET PORN
The South African government is considering a proposed draconian bill to block all adult material on the internet and cell-phones in South Africa.
This according to the Department of Home Affairs, which said that it met with the Justice Alliance of South Africa (JASA) last week.
The JASA describes itself as “a coalition of corporations, individuals and churches committed to upholding and fighting for justice and the highest moral standards in South African society”.
In a statement, the department announced that the JASA presented the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Malusi Gigaba, with the “Internet and Cellphone Pornography Bill” which proposes that pornography be filtered out at tier one service providers to avoid it entering the country.
“The current legislation, particularly the Film and Publication Act, provide of the ban (sic) of child pornography whereas the proposed Internet and Cellphone Pornography Bill provides for the total ban of pornography on these electronic channels using the wider definition of pornography already available in the Sexual Offence Act,” said the department.
It added: “There is clear evidence of the constitutionality of such an exercise as expressed in the constitution that, ‘A child’s best interests are of paramount importance in every matter concerning the child.’ Hence other rights such as freedom of expression cannot be seen to be absolute. They have to be weighed against the interests of children.”
The Deputy Minister has already requested the Law Reform Commission (LRC) to provide advice on the legal and constitutional implications of such legislation and is awaiting the LRC’s response.
Gigaba said, “Cars are already provided with brakes and seatbelts, it is not an extra that consumers have to pay for. There is no reason why the internet should be provided without the necessary restrictive mechanisms built into it.”
It was agreed at the meeting that the JASA will have further meetings with the Film and Publication Board (FPB) to explore the draft bill.
If South Africa were to ban access to pornographic sites on the internet it would join a number of totalitarian states and territories that impose restrictions on their citizens’ online freedom including China, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam and the Gaza Strip.
Unbelievable!. Unbelievable! I am all for protecting the childre, they SHOULD be protected because they are the most vulnerable sector of society.
But this…this clearly something more sinister. As soon as the church is involved, one immediately knows that there is an agenda being pushed…a moral one. There are ways in which to protect our children that don’t impinge on the rights of others to access such material. There is a way to control this access which does not involve the implementataion of draconian, authoritarian laws like this.
For us to be placed in the same category of country as China, Saudi Arabia and the UAE is dangerous…
Hahahaha. Well good luck in trying.
Not even the Chinese goverment with it’s very advanced technology, and well trained experts could even make a dent in pornography on the internet, what is our poor minister going to do? Ask really nicely?
morals!!. I think it is about time these people who are totally devoid of principle and moralityshould concentrate on correcting thir own moral values.
I do not need a second rate politician or bigoted church organisation to advise me of my mrals.
It is clear that those who supposedly govern have no comprehension of our constutution and are intent on trying to enforce a totalitarian regime as equally mind numbingly stupid as the previous regime…
Glass houses. He who has multiple wives and illegitimate children should not throw stones.
…… It never ceases to amaze me the collective stupidity of this government (and that word is used loosely).
While I am 100% behind their attempts to restrict child access to porn but surely if kids are accessing it online then it begs the question: where the hell are the parents and why aren’t they monitoring what their kids do online? There are loads of programs out there that can block access to porn and monitor exactly what sites are visited and when. Why don’t they make it law that public internet cafes or home computers must have this software? Doesn’t that qualify as the “necessary restrictive mechanisms” that the minister suggests? That way people are still given the choice and freedom is not restricted.
But as Robert A Heinlein once said, “When any government, or any church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects ‘This you may not read, this you must not see, this you are forbidden to know,’ the end result is tyranny and oppression, no matter how holy the motives. Little force is needed to control a man whose mind has been hoodwinked; on the contrary, no amount of force can control a free man, a man whose mind is free. No, not the rack, not fission bombs – not anything – you can’t conquer a free man; the most you can do is kill him.”
Ban internet porn. Well, how the hell are they going to get that right? honestly? It’s virtually impossible to block porn on a non regulated service EG the internet.
No need to worry.
Perhaps the department of home affairs should concentrate a little more on issueing IDs and passports and stopping the coruption in their deparment than on wasting their resources on attempting a poorly thought out authoritarian measure.
What next….!. Oh please. The government should really focus their brain power(if thet have any) and try and regulate rape,theft and unlawfull acts like coming into the country without documents.
What is next? Bann ANY porn availible thru shops and adult outlets?That is clearly the next step.
But what would you expect of a government applauding a president`s 21 baby!
Come on guys,get real. It looks like the people in parliament obviousely have too much time on their hands.
And how exactly will they define www porn?
Fall in line ANTS…
Oh joy. Oh the joys of living on the African continent. Today they ban porn, tomorrow they take away our gay rights.
I am sick of these “religious” groups meddling in politics. It’s not difficult the see all of them have hidden agendas and none have anything to do with morality.
Saudi! Yemen ! China !. Oh please what a joke.
Wil they get it ryt?. Wow, lets look at da Home Affairs Dept, is sumhow shiftin their ID and Documentation backlog. We sitting wif millions of citizens wifout employment and education just bcuz of a merer ID. So they must get dat ryt 1st