Internet providers must now police misinformation in South Africa — or face R750,000 fines

Several free expression and media advocacy groups have raised the alarm over new rules the Film and Publication Board (FPB) has attempted to impose on Internet service providers and social media platform owners.

In a notice published in the Government Gazette on 22 March, the FPB has attempted to prescribe new regulations governing misinformation and disinformation in South Africa.

Signed by FPB CEO Mashilo Boloka (pictured), the notice defines disinformation as false information disseminated by someone who knows it is untrue.

It defines misinformation as false information where the person disseminating it believes it to be true.

The notice then goes on to attach massive criminal penalties for distributing disinformation and misinformation.

Anyone found guilty of distributing such prohibited content faces a fine of up to R150,000 and zero to two years imprisonment.

Internet Service Providers who learn that their services were used to disseminate disinformation or misinformation face fines of up to R750,000 and five years in prison if they don’t notify the FPB within 30 days.

Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr consulting media and technology law specialist Emma Kingdon explained that the FPB did this by declaring that mis- and disinformation are forms of propaganda for war, incitement of imminent violence, and hate speech.

It then applied the criminal penalties associated with these offences to disseminating misinformation and disinformation.

The FPB then also attempts to extend its powers regarding registration and other obligations of Internet service providers over platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Google.

It demanded that these platforms report to the FPB within 30 days on what steps they are taking to prevent propaganda for war, incitement of imminent violence, and hate speech.

Media Monitoring Africa, the South African National Editors Forum, the Campaign for Free Expression, the Press Council of South Africa, and the SOS Support Public Broadcasting Coalition have served the FPB with an ultimatum to withdraw the notice or face legal action.

Among their concerns was that the definition of misinformation was overly broad by including people who unknowingly say something false.

They also argued that the FPB has no mandate to regulate misinformation and disinformation, and that the agency was effectively trying to enact new legislation without proper Parliamentary procedure.

Media Monitoring Africa director William Bird told 702 Talk Radio that the FPB was trying to create an entirely new class of crime without public consultation.

The deadline for their ultimatum expired at 17:00 on Thursday, 4 April and Boloka defended their notice on Radio 702 on Friday morning.