Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Malusi Gigaba has proposed a ban on inappropriate websites and television programs. He proposes that the ban, covering TV but also mobile phones and the web, could be implemented in the form of filters set by Internet service providers. Countries such as Australia and China have already developed filters to block access to certain websites, however Internet security experts have dismissed the idea as "madness". Gigaba's rebuttal was "Cars are already provided with brakes and seat belts... There is no reason why the Internet should be provided without the necessary restrictive mechanisms built into it." Many people in South Africa are against this ban. Craham Cluley of security firm Sophos said "Although their intentions may be honourable, it's barking mad to think you will be able to completely outlaw pornography from the web which, is after all, the modern equivalent of the wild west." Pornography is a big topic of debate in South Africa and no one knows where this proposed ban will take the country.
I agree with what Sophos has said about the Pornography ban in South America. No matter how hard the government tries to ban pornography, people will always find ways around the ban. There is no point in wasting millions of dollars trying to filter something that is unstoppable. It is like a country trying to ban alcohol or cigarettes. As honourable as their intentions may be, it's just impossible to accomplish. I believe it is up to the parents or guardians to censor their children from pornography. The parents control what the child sees and watches on television and the government should not intervene with that. Furthermore, trying to restrict pornography would be against what the public wants. If the government were to make this bill into a law, the citizens of South Africa would be dissappointed, perhaps even angry at their decision. Pornography on the Internet is something the government just can't control. It is up to the parents and educators of South America to teach the children the rights and wrongs of the Internet.
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