Film and Publication Board (FPB) interim CEO Dr Mashilo Boloka has been appointed to the new six-member board of the INHOPE international organisation.
INHOPE is the global network whose mission is to lead the fight against online child sexual abuse material (CSAM). It’s a network of 50 hotlines from across the globe that operate in all European Union member states: Russia, SA, North and South America, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
It supports hotlines and their partner organisations through training, best practices, quality assurance and staff welfare.
The new board will run the INHOPE global network of hotlines for two years, according to the organisation.
Boloka’s appointment comes as the content-classification body gets the Films and Publications Amendment (FPA) Act of 2019 into gear.
In line with advancements in digital technologies, the amended FPA Act seeks to ensure citizens of SA are protected from content in films, games and online platforms that could cause them moral, emotional or psychological harm.
CSAM is a rising issue worldwide, as predators continuously use the internet as a tool to target unsuspecting children and lure them into compromising situations that lead to their abuse online.
This challenge recently saw African regulators announce a regulation framework meant to control the massive volume of unfiltered online content that poses potential harm to vulnerable groups such as children.
The FPB previously stated that online harassment is just the tip of the cyber iceberg, adding that what’s most concerning are the images of child sexual abuse material and sexual conduct circulated by youth on peer-to-peer networks and social media.
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