Dear Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies,

Last week (at time of writing) Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Solly Malatsi addressed a comment to MP Kobe (action SA) in regards to, if a potential legislation for a possible social media ban for under 16'swas being considered to which the Minister said:

No.

As someone who has been campaigning about the privacy, surveillance and constitutional issues of restricting youth access to information, I and members arguing against were glad a leader in a time of global panic to restrict youth access to platforms could see it was not working.

The issue is the Draft whitepaper (audio and audiovisual media services and online safety) Still has a proposal of Age verification, the thing that would have been used to power a social media ban. I am also concerned if other platform's acknowledge South Africa's position on age verification and wont simply overwrite it and deploy it anyways.

I have 4 questions for the department.

1. With the department formally saying they wont be pursuing a ban has the department informed platforms like discord, Reddit, Roblox, OpenAI etc who are pre-emptively making international age verification systems (the same used for under 16 bans) and launching them internationally to exclude South Africa from such age verification practices and respect our digital sovereignty? if not this would be the same as an under 16 ban just without the department authorizing it, effectively making the Ministers comment toothless/leaving South Africans to give up data not knowing they shouldn't be prompted to.

2.Will the provision for Age verification be removed in the next draft of the audio and audiovisual whitepaper draft?

3.If it will be removed can a rationale be outlined why it was removed for further deliberation for others discussing age verification in their respective regions, as this is an international discussion.

4.If it will be kept could the department give a rationale why it is keeping it as a proposal.

Dankie
have a good day.

Kind Regards
Kerk Huise