The Department of Home Affairs recently announced that it will develop an inter-departmental protocol on the protection of children against child pornography. This decision was taken at a meeting of Deputy Ministers with Basic Education, Mr Enver Surty and Social Development, Ms Bathabile Dlamini, present and Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Mr Malusi Gigaba convening the meeting. They received a briefing from the Film and Publication Board on the campaign against child pornography.
Home Affairs Deputy Minister, Mr Malusi Gigaba, said, “The lack of statistics about child pornography should not lead us to being complacent in protecting children. The increase of access to technology and mobile internet, with all its benefits, also poses risks such as creation and distribution of child pornography. We need to be proactive in protecting children against this heinous crime.”
Gigaba, suggested that, “South Africa should explore an outright ban on pornography in the public media as is the practice in countries such as China and India.” To this extent, the Deputy Minister will approach the Law Reform Commission with a view to requesting them to investigate and advice on the possibility of such a move.
The Register points out that the Chinese government, which goes to great lengths to enforce its ban on internet pornography, has the benefit of the Great Firewall to repel the porn-addled tubes of foreign nations more effectively.
In South Africa the banning of porn may prove far more challenging than in China, and the fact that child porn is typically not distributed through publically available websites further questions the wisdom of Gigaba’s comments.
According to an anonymous industry expert, well versed in the online legal environment, any steps taken to deal with child pornography are welcome, but they should be very targeted at addressing the problem itself to ensure that such interventions do not have unintended consequences.
According to the industry source it is already law that reasonable steps must be taken to ensure that a child is not exposed to pornography, which questions the enforcement of the law and questions whether changing the law will have any positive effect.
They are a bunch of clueless communists. Welcome to Facism where a bunch of fat uneducated people decide for the masses whats good for them.
I actually dont care if they block porn but it wont stop there, they will then go further to block swearing and later it will be any opinion that oppose their communist views
I find it all incredibly interesting to be honest. I’m not into pornography to be honest – Sure, I’ve watched the odd movie and I, personally, feel that pornography can be tasteful and does have its place, so banning it in my opinion isn’t the best move, but if they can prove that it’s going to make a difference in a big way, then I guess it’s not such a bad thing..
If they cannot effectively ban child pornography, which every sane person can agree is morally disgusting, how do they plan to ban pornography in its entirety?
States such as China and India, where the government has almost absolute control over the media, can get away with these things and push pornography underground, but I really believe the country’s resources should be devoted to stopping things that are already illegal (child pornography included).
All pornography sites should be given a common extension (.xxx perhaps) and individuals should be able to choose whether or not their PC’s can access these sites or not.
Separate the internet into PG13 and everything else, rather than banning an entire industry.
Children (and actually, people from all ages) should be safeguarded and protected from exploitation.
However, banning pornography is like banning apples – it’s the apple’s fault that Eve ate it?
And there is no such thing as pornography. It’s all a subjective, arbitrary interpretation layered onto reality.
The proof that it is an arbitrary and subjective interpretation or consensus, is because nakedness in one society (like some African tribes) is perfectly acceptable, but it offends people from other cultures.
I’ve done extensive reading and research in the effects of pornography on society and although i can’t entirely condone its complete banning, i do think that steps need to be taken. People are desensitized to what is right and wrong from over exposure to the burgeoning variety available at their fingertips. Child porn constitutes any type of pornographic material with an underage person. People need to be made aware of the ramifications of getting into this kind of stuff. While physical abuse destroys the body, sexual cause destroys the soul. And people who gain pleasure from watching this kind of stuff are propagating the distribution of more and more. So something serious needs to be done.