Internet Censorship In South Africa

Internet censorship is nothing new and perceived as a regular thing. While it is true that people have kind of got used to it in some parts of the world not everyone thinks restricting Internet access is a good thing. African regions are adopting the Internet fast and in this article, we explore possible obstacles that South Africa may face along the way.

Best Intentions

The South African government started censoring the Internet back in 2006 when a great portion of the adult content entered the country. All local ISP’s were forced to filter and prohibit banned content from being displayed. Some bloggers were arrested for discussing this online and questioning the righteousness of this decision.

Possible future restrictions

As of now, there are no major Internet restrictions in South Africa, with the exception of pornography and resources that violate copyrights, which is generally a good thing. The country has also gotten a “Free” Internet Freedom Status rating from the Freedom House which speaks for itself.

The situation can be described as satisfying at the moment. The threat of more severe Internet censorship has recently been aggravated by the Right2Know campaign though. Activists claim the Film and Publications Board has been pushing a proposal to censor the Internet in South Africa.

The FPB wants local institutions to have an option to legally regulate and/or ban certain websites, social networks, blogs, and/or personal websites which may represent a threat to the government.

South African officials’ aspiration towards a ban on pornography and pirated content is a world practice and there’s no denying it is a change for the better. At the same time, these regulations draw a thin line that can be easily crossed at any given moment with bans on social media, blogs and knowledge bases.

We have a solution

Prepare yourself for possible Internet censorship and preserve your rights on the web. If you take care of your online privacy, use VPN services to make your physical location and web-life anonymous to your ISP and henceforth any third party.

Some of our VPN advantages include:
· 100% Internet traffic encryption
· Any website not available in your region is now unblocked
· Easy to use service. No need to install additional software.

Better Safe Than Sorry

Overall, South Africa has not applied heavy Internet censorship yet. The authorities, however, have started to work on regulation laws which may result in freedom of speech restrictions. Privatopia offers a choice to overcome possible obstacles and continue visiting your favorite websites and share thoughts online.

5 Best VPN Service For South Africa

To protect your privacy and security while accessing websites online, take a look at the best VPN services for South Africa: