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Porn Ban Being Considered In South Africa

Posted by Soulskill on from the have-an-easier-time-blocking-gravity dept.

krou writes "Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Malusi Gigaba has gone to South Africa's Law Reform Commission to see whether the law can be changed to allow a complete ban of digitally distributed pornography. Gigaba has also been in discussion with The Justice Alliance of South Africa, 'a coalition of corporations, individuals, and churches committed to upholding and fighting for justice and the highest moral standards in South African society,' which has written its own draft bill regarding the issue, which covers the banning of pornography on television, mobile phones, and the Web. Using a car analogy, Mr. Gigaba said, 'Cars are already provided with brakes and seatbelts.... There is no reason why the Internet should be provided without the necessary restrictive mechanisms built into it.' Related documents and the JASA's proposed bill can be found online, one of which has the wonderful title 'A reasonable and justifiable limitation on Freedom of Expression and Right to Privacy.'"

8 of 240 comments (clear)

  1. The brakes model by aapold · · Score: 4, Interesting

    if they use that model, that would be fine.

    Because I can choose to hit the brakes or not as I see fit. If harm comes from my failure to use them, then I suffer the consequences. If not, no problem.

    Thus, I expect them to implement a filter than can be applied or not applied as the user sees fit, and leave it up to them to apply it judiciously.

    I have no problem with this model, if so applied.

    --
    "Waste not one watt!" - CZ
    1. Re:The brakes model by zuperduperman · · Score: 3, Interesting

      > the purpose of law (and government) is to create a successful society

      It may be true at a practical level, but I find this kind of rationalization very scary. You are saying that the needs of the collective universally outweigh those of the individual. Which for example (sorry to Godwin the thread) would mean that if we genuinely come to believe that Jews negatively affect society then it is quite OK to discriminate against them, perhaps even ship them out on trains or enslave them and put them in camps because, hey, making 'society' better is a higher purpose than protecting the rights of individuals.

      > From some points of view, pornography is immoral. The real questions that should be asked are whether it is detrimental to society

      I have to disagree. We are not here to serve 'society', 'society' is here to serve us. We are individuals who agree to participate in 'society' because it serves our own interests. If we all choose masturbating to porn as a great thing to do then it is not the business of government to make a judgement that 'society' has been negatively affected. If you want to make this argument then you have to drive it down to how it negatively affects individuals, and then address a solution at the most granular level possible to help those individuals. It is only in the most extreme and rare cases that this should rise to the level that all 'society' has to be controlled.

  2. Black South Africa failed.... by Simonetta · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Sure, apartheid was evil and cruel. Yeah, we all cheered when Nelson Mandela was elected President. They had our hopes, investments, and prayers. We all waved our plastic lighters when Paul Simon brought all those beautiful black Zulu singers on stage in the Graceland tour. We all believed.

        Then we woke up. We found that South Africa has become the rape capital of the world. We found that most people there are superstitious and ignorant, and violent. Where most people still believe that drinking the blood of 13-year-old virgin cures AIDS. (It doesn't, guys, just in case you were wondering) Where the few remaining whites running productive farms in the countryside are hunted down, tortured, and murdered by the new South African police that just look the other way and call it justice. Where most international investments are skimmed by corrupt and incompetent government officials. Where no blacks outside of the government are better off than they were under apartheid. Where the whites have reestablished semi-segregated quasi-homelands with their own police and self-defense forces that mirror apartheid. Where nobody in their right mind is going to spend thousands of dollars to fly to this dangerous and remote part of the world just to watch a soccer game.

        Africa is a giant mess. A half-assed collection of 'daylight democracies' and nighttime tribal savageries. South Africa is no different. And how do they deal with their problems.

        Banning internet porn. Fucking buffoons. Bring back the Boers.

    1. Re:Black South Africa failed.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The Boers are still here, simply trying to survive. We also drank the cool-aid, believed, were and are fucked. Hard.

      The whites (and blacks, mind you) that can afford it live behind electric fencing or gated communities. These are not apartheid mirrors, as you imply, they are simply frightened white communities trying to fucking survive, not be murdered, raped, tortured, robbed, abused by blacks.

      You know what's ironic? These are the same whites who voted Yes in the referendum to change the country's future, free Mandela, and try and start again.

      I voted Yes. I now have children who's future is uncertain. I decided a long time ago not to emigrate like so many of my peers, but I now *must* for my children.

    2. Re:Black South Africa failed.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      My dad worked in Botswana for a couple of years and they sometimes had to go into SA for supplies. He's a pretty hard left democrat who was forced out of the Navy after 10 years) because he stuck up for a guy who he believed was bing railroaded because he was black. So he is about as far from racist as you can get, and he said there are intersections in SA where whites don't have to stop. Being confused, I asked why, thinking it was some sort of racial law. He informed me because if you stop, you will be killed. For being white, nothing more. Too many people there just don't care. This was over 10 years ago, but it doesn't sound like things have gotten any better.

  3. Re:Maybe they should be addressing POVERTY and SAF by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Why does the middle class all live behind huge fences and pay big $$$ for private security?

    because if they dont pay security big money then the local gangs will
    i asked a customer of mine why he moved out of the country, he said he was fed up of waking up worried that his own security was going to rob him (apparently its common)

    the wealth disparity is massive in SA and the poor are desperate, uneducated, angry and lazy

    when a man has nothing to lose he has everything to gain

  4. Re:solved all other problems, I see? by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Since the dismantling of Apartheid, South Africa has made such progress on human rights and social justice (still far from perfect, but way better than it used to be)

    I guess that's why their crime rates have soared since then, and life quality has decreased on average?

    Let's face it: the people who took over the country in post-apartheid era fucked up in a major way, and that is largely due to violent ignorance of the newly found electorate. Not saying that apartheid was a good thing, mind you - it was a travesty, and good riddance! - but for all the good things that its downfall had brought, there were just as many bad ones; and those still keep coming...

  5. Re:I live in South Africa... by howzit · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I too am South African and have two questions: How come porn is available over the counter in printed form but they want to ban it on the internet? How much is made in taxes on the sale of porn mags and how much on internet porn?