South Africa Amends Online Censorship Plans

In March 2015, the South African government announced that it would changing its newly-launched policy on monitoring online publications. The new policy meant that any online publishing run from the country, including YouTube or personal blogging, would have to pay the South African Film and Publication Board a fee to then vet any material published. However, the organisation released an updated policy this week following much criticism from within and outside South Africa. The new document now excludes any user generated content, admitting that the level of user content is far too numerous to police practically, and that it would have no say over any user content published in other countries. The new remit differentiates between professional and amateur content, meaning that online films and videogames are still open to be targeted by the new law, but as an example of amateur production, user generated content is not. 

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