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Films and Publications Act, 1996 (Act No. 65 of 1996)

Chapter 6 : Exemptions: Publications and Films

24C. Obligations of internet access and service providers

 

(1) For the purposes of this section, unless the context otherwise indicates—
(a) "child-oriented service" means a contact service and includes a content service which is specifically targeted at children;
(b) "contact service" means any service intended to enable people previously unacquainted with each other to make initial contact and to communicate with each other;
(c) "content" means any sound, text, still picture, moving picture, other audio visual representation or sensory representation and includes any combination of the preceding which is capable of being created, manipulated, stored, retrieved or communicated but excludes content contained in private communications between consumers;
(d) "content service" means—
(i) the provision of content; or
(ii) the exercise of editorial control over the content conveyed via a communications network, as defined in the Electronic Communications Act, 2005 (Act No. 35 of 2005), to the public or sections of the public; and
(e) "operator" means any person who provides a child-oriented contact service or content service, including Internet chat-rooms.

 

(2) Any person who provides child-oriented services, including chatrooms, on or through mobile cellular telephones or the internet, shall—
(a) moderate such services and take such reasonable steps as are necessary to ensure that such services are not being used by any person for the purpose of the commission of any offence against children;
(b) prominently display reasonable safety messages in a language that will be clearly understood by children, on all advertisements for a child-oriented service, as well as in the medium used to access such child-oriented service including, where appropriate, chat-room safety messages for chat-rooms or similar contact services;
(c) provide a mechanism to enable children to report suspicious behaviour by any person in a chat-room to the service or access provider;
(d) report details of any information regarding behaviour which is indicative of the commission of any offence by any person against any child to a police official of the South African Police Service; and
(e) where technically feasible, provide children and their parents or primary care-givers with information concerning software or other tools which can be used to filter or block access to content services and contact services, where allowing a child to access such content service or contact service would constitute an offence under this Act or which may be considered unsuitable for children, as well as information concerning the use of such software or other tools.

 

(3) Any person who fails to comply with subsection (2) shall be guilty of an offence and liable, upon conviction, to a fine not exceeding R50 000 or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months or to both a fine and such imprisonment

[Section 24C(3) substituted by section 26 of Proc 52, GG 45959, dated 25 February 2022]

 

[Section 24C inserted by section 29 of Notice No. 876, GG 32534, dated 28 August 2009]

 

 


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