Internet censorship in South Africa: a brief exposé of negative and positive trends.

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Title: Internet censorship in South Africa: a brief exposé of negative and positive trends.
Authors: Bitso, Constance1 connie.bitso@uct.ac.za
Source: South African Journal of Libraries & Information Science. 2014, Vol. 80 Issue 1, p41-51. 11p.
Subject Terms: *Mass media, *Government policy, Internet censorship, Information filtering, Government policy on the Internet, Cyberspace
Geographic Terms: South Africa
Abstract: This article investigates internet censorship in South Africa using a set of negative and positive internet censorship trends adapted from Bitso, Fourie and Bothma (2012) to raise awareness in light of increasing global internet censorship and South Africa's involvement in a proposal for inter-governmental policy on the internet. Both positive and negative internet censorship trends are noted. The investigation reveals that South Africa has the highest level of media freedom in Africa. However, there are three concerns highlighted that might have a bearing on internet censorship in South Africa. Firstly, there is the formulation of legislation that might impact on the use of information, in particular the Protection of State Information Bill (2010). As such, various campaigns and cyber actions were made against this Bill because it is deemed to entrench information censorship. Secondly, there is the hacking of South African government websites, including that of the police on more than one occasion. This warrants internet censorship in order to combat crime as well as to ensure safety and security. Thirdly, there is the increasing challenge of spam and malware that calls for filtering to protect systems such as servers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of South African Journal of Libraries & Information Science is the property of Library & Information Association of South Africa and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
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  Data: Internet censorship in South Africa: a brief exposé of negative and positive trends.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Mass+media%22">Mass media</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Government+policy%22">Government policy</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Internet+censorship%22">Internet censorship</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Information+filtering%22">Information filtering</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Government+policy+on+the+Internet%22">Government policy on the Internet</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cyberspace%22">Cyberspace</searchLink>
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  Data: This article investigates internet censorship in South Africa using a set of negative and positive internet censorship trends adapted from Bitso, Fourie and Bothma (2012) to raise awareness in light of increasing global internet censorship and South Africa's involvement in a proposal for inter-governmental policy on the internet. Both positive and negative internet censorship trends are noted. The investigation reveals that South Africa has the highest level of media freedom in Africa. However, there are three concerns highlighted that might have a bearing on internet censorship in South Africa. Firstly, there is the formulation of legislation that might impact on the use of information, in particular the Protection of State Information Bill (2010). As such, various campaigns and cyber actions were made against this Bill because it is deemed to entrench information censorship. Secondly, there is the hacking of South African government websites, including that of the police on more than one occasion. This warrants internet censorship in order to combat crime as well as to ensure safety and security. Thirdly, there is the increasing challenge of spam and malware that calls for filtering to protect systems such as servers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of South African Journal of Libraries & Information Science is the property of Library & Information Association of South Africa and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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        Value: 10.7553/80-1-1388
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 11
        StartPage: 41
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Mass media
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Government policy
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Internet censorship
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Information filtering
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Government policy on the Internet
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Cyberspace
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: South Africa
        Type: general
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      – TitleFull: Internet censorship in South Africa: a brief exposé of negative and positive trends.
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              Text: 2014
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