The SAHRC holds a national hearing on social media and racism
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| Members of the public and the ANC marching, condemning the spate of racism on social media (Backpage pix) |
The South African Human
Rights Commission just concluded a two day hearing on social media and racism
on Thursday in Braamfontein, Johannesburg. This was after a series of racial
social media rants that sent shock waves through the country and resuscitated
race tensions between blacks and whites.
The recent rant was by a
Limpopo man, Phillip Roodt, who posted about how black beachgoers crowded
beaches like cockroaches and how he hoped they drown one by one.
The commission was listening
to submissions from a number of players like implementers of the legislation
regulating hate speech, non-government organisations and the various social
media platforms. The public was part of the proceedings but they were barred
from submitting recommendations.
The commission is chaired by
advocate Bongani Majola, assisted by Justice Albie Sachs and Commissioner Angie
Makwetla. The commission seek to find out the following: what constitutes
racism in the context of social media, who should be liable and to what extent.
The commission maintains that it fully advocate for free speech which is vital
in a democratic setting but it also recognises the responsibility it has to protect
individuals and groups that feel vindicated in the process.
The narrative from platforms
such as Facebook and Twitter is that they cannot screen users’ thoughts before
publication as that constitute censorship. In their submission, Facebook said that
they can’t screen people’s thoughts before publication but users must report
sensitive material and then they can intervene by removing such posts.
The commission is expected
to report back their findings and recommendations in two months’ time.
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