Paper on child sex out for comment

The SA Law Reform Commission has approved the publication of its discussion paper on sexual offences (pornography and children) for comment. The five topics considered in this paper deal with children accessing or being exposed to pornography; the creation and distribution of child sexual abuse material; the creating of consensual self-child sexual abuse material (commonly referred to as sexting); grooming of a child and other sexual contact crimes associated with or facilitated by pornography or child sexual abuse material; and the investigation, procedure and sentencing protocols in these matters. Draft recommendations in keeping with current international trends include a recommendation that Internet service providers and mobile phone operators should provide for a clean feed Internet (adult content filtering) as the default position as is the case in the UK. This would include all mobile phones having software embedded to prevent any and all access to pornographic sites. The default assumption would be that a user is under the age of 18 and that information about online safety should be provided to account holders in a prominent and easily accessible format throughout the duration of their contract. Internet and mobile phone users would be able to opt-out of the clean feed regime by providing proof of age of majority. A clean feed regime for material deemed unsuitable for children is also considered.

The commission will be conducting workshops on the discussion paper on 12 June in Pretoria, 19 June in Cape Town, 25 June in Mthatha, 27 June in Bloemfontein, 2 July in Polokwane, 4 July in Mbombela and 11 July in Pietermaritzburg. A workshop targeted at the ICT industry will take place on 13 June. The commission invites comment on the discussion paper and the draft Bill which accompanies it. Comment may also be made on related issues of concern which have not been raised in the discussion paper. The closing date for comment is 30 July. Inquiries can be directed to Ms D Clark: dclark@justice.gov.za.