The CEO of South Africa's Film and Publications Board (FPB) is under precautionary suspension, facing controversy over previously proposed regulations aimed at combating online misinformation. The regulations sparked backlash from advocacy groups and industry stakeholders who raised concerns about their broad scope and potential impact on free speech.
The CEO of South Africa ’s Film and Publications Board (FPB), Mashilo Boloka, remains on precautionary suspension since 7 August 2024. According to a spokesperson for the content classification agency, Boloka’s suspension is in effect until further notice. Makhosazana Lindhorst, the FPB’s regulatory development and enforcement executive, is currently serving as acting CEO.
However, while Boloka was suspended in August last year, there was a situation in April where controversial regulations he published to police mis- and disinformation online were withdrawn by a different acting CEO. The regulations would have forced South African Internet service providers and social media platform owners. The notice prescribed heavy criminal penalties for distributing disinformation and misinformation, with fines of up to R150,000 and two years imprisonment. Under the regulations, ISPs could face fines of up to R750,000 and five years in prison if they failed to notify the FPB within 30 days of becoming aware that their services were used to disseminate dis- or misinformation. Advocacy groups immediately slammed the new rules and threatened to take legal action against the FPB. The regulations were withdrawn on 11 April by Ephraim Tlhako, the FPB’s technology and platform monitoring executive, while he was acting as the agency’s CEO. Media Monitoring Africa, the South African National Editors Forum, the Campaign for Free Expression, the Press Council of South Africa, and the SOS Support Public Broadcasting Coalition. They were particularly concerned that the definition of misinformation was overly broad by including people who unknowingly said something false. The regulations defined disinformation as “false information disseminated by someone who knows it is untrue” and misinformation as “false information where the person disseminating it believes it to be true”. The industry groups also argued that the FPB had no mandate to regulate misinformation and disinformation
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