People arrested in South Africa for illegal content

The Film and Publication Board (FPB) analysed 18 child sexual abuse material (CSAM) cases in the first three quarters of the 2024/25 financial year, all of which resulted in convictions.

These cases were referred to the FPB by the South African Police Services (SAPS).

This is according to the FPB acting CEO Ephraim Thlako, who briefed Parliament’s Standing Committee on the prevalence of harmful content on social media and other online platforms.

Thlako said the FBP is cracking down on CSAM by working closely with its child protection officers and SAPS.

In his presentation to the committee, he noted that of the 178,411 hours of content analysed by the FPB, 7,461 hours were confirmed as CSAM.

“This material gets confiscated from the suspect, and then the FPB child protection officers, who are trained social workers, analyse the content,” Thlako said.

“This evidence is then provided to the prosecuting authorities, who provide it as evidence in court.”

Thlako said that because all the CSAM cases the FPB has worked on with SAPS have resulted in convictions, he believes the courts are sending a message that it will not be tolerated online.

He said the FPB has carried out 574 inspections and 19 raids, issued 108 compliance notices and 14 takedown notices, and confiscated R1 million worth of material. 

While society has shifted to online media consumption, Thlako argues that selling DVDs remains prevalent in South Africa.

“There are still stores distributing physical DVDs, which is why we are still conducting raids,” he said.

“For example, you will find that the DVD has a Coco Melon sticker on it. It’s only once a child has bought it for R20 and gets home that they realise it is hardcore pornographic content.”

A more proactive approach

Thlako said that it has also partnered with the Department of Basic Education to make children aware of the dangers of the Internet and how to protect themselves online.

“We tell them to please protect themselves and to stop bullying other children online,” he said.

“It is one thing to say that you will use enforcement action to crack down on the issue, but media and digital literacy is one of the most important factors in mitigating risk.”

The FPB’s presentation noted that it had conducted 38 outreach programmes involving 11,217 children in the first two quarters of the 2024/25 financial year.

One of the significant challenges identified by the regulator is the incongruence of community guidelines across social media platforms.

“What happens is that when a video gets blocked or removed from one platform, the user then goes to another platform and posts it there,” Thlako said.

“If we can have these guidelines standardised, then we can avoid users jumping from one platform to another or at least prevent users from seeing harmful content.”

To tackle these issues on social media, the FPB has a dedicated unit that monitors social media activities, which refers non-compliant activities to the enforcement and compliance unit.

If social media posts are deemed non-compliant, the FPB are provided links by the social media platforms for reporting purposes and issuing takedown notices.

The regulator also collaborates with civil society through public complaints made directly to the FPB.

Thlako said that the FPB received and investigated 20 complaints made by the public, which included cases of CSAM, impersonation, bestiality, and non-consensual sharing of sexual images, known as revenge porn.