Online publication bill

[Valerion]

Very worrying for us, I think.

http://www.fin24.com/Tech/News/internet ... a-20160919

[Galahad]

This also coincides with the appointment of a new public protector. Hm. To be frank, I find it absolutely ludicrous - yet I would imagine that is the consensus of most sensible internet users. As the article states, it will be deliberated in parliament tomorrow, so we cannot be too dogmatic about it until then.

However, to be honest, I cannot see its enforcement being very successful - simply take a look at the public backlash against student fees and, to a much lesser extent, mobile data fees. South Africans tend to be very vocal about perceived injustices, and this would in no way affect only a fraction of the population: we may be a developing country, but Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are all commonly used. Friction and tension would be felt very soon after the bill's institution.

[Badge]

In the same breath it would be better that such a backlash happens to prevent this from coming to be instead of a reactive pose only when people start feeling the affects.

Either way this has a whole "Kim Jong Un" crazy control feel to it. This is a bit of a crazy step towards a very dangerous type of control of people.

[rusted hydra]

How exactly are they going to stop me uploading youtube videos?

Edit: also isn't this going to stirr up shit with the big corporations that own said sites like youtube? Cause the government is trying to force people to pay to contribute to their sites. Kinda seems like stealing and unless the government gives them a cut I don't think youtube would be happy

[Valerion]

How exactly are they going to stop me uploading youtube videos?

Edit: also isn't this going to stirr up shit with the big corporations that own said sites like youtube? Cause the government is trying to force people to pay to contribute to their sites. Kinda seems like stealing and unless the government gives them a cut I don't think youtube would be happy

They can't stop you from uploading. But they can then get you on a criminal offence in the future.

To me this is a free speech vs. censorship issue.

[Rakuen Growlithe]

Isn't this just a continuation of this discussion from last year? viewtopic.php?f=22&t=3307&p=67638

[Valerion]

Isn't this just a continuation of this discussion from last year? viewtopic.php?f=22&t=3307&p=67638

It is, but now the bill is on the verge of becoming law. Last year it was still being discussed. We can probably merge them, though.

[Galahad]

The amendment, dubbed the Internet Censorship Bill, will be deliberated in Parliament on Tuesday and it is, according to the DA, “simply bad news”.

Quote from THIS article

According to this article, the issue was to be discussed in Parliament today. However, after a Google search and a local search on News24 and Financial24, there are no new articles on the issue. That is strange.

[Valerion]

Normally I would not post party-political stuff, and this is not an attempt to elevate one party above another. But ... since they took the initiative to create an online petition ...

https://www.da.org.za/petition-throw-in ... ship-bill/

[Tetsudra]

We'll be fine.

http://www.itweb.co.za/index.php?option ... &id=155953

Opposing players included MultiChoice, eNCA, eTV, Right2Know, Media Monitoring Africa, the SOS Coalition, the South African National Editors Forum, the National Association of Broadcasters, Google and the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).

If this bill can get MultiChoice, eNCA and the SABC on the same side, then you know it's not a partisan censorship attempt. This is the same SABC that makes arbitrary decisions on content and airing of political ads, but they too want the Regulatory Impact Assessment to go ahead, because the FPB draft in its current form is basically a piece of paperwork shit.