The Film and Publication Board (FPB) plans to set up a South African Online Safety Youth Council, in line with efforts to engage local youth around the development of policies that affect them.
The council, according to the FPB, will be inaugurated at its upcoming South African Youth Online Harms and Safety Summit, to be hosted in collaboration with the University of Limpopo.
In a statement, the FPB says it will develop a draft engagement strategy for youth to be implemented by the council.
“No other country, other than Australia, has established such a council to give youth a voice and take the mandate of a regulator forward to engage their peers on online harms and safety.”
Under the terms of the Films and Publications Amendment Act, which came into effect on 1 March, the FPB’s mandate has expanded to regulate harmful and prohibited content distributed on digital platforms.
While the youth is the biggest user, consumer and creator of online content, their voices are seldom heard in these affairs, according to the FPB.
Youth have expressed a number of online safety concerns, ranging from catfishing, fake accounts, cyber bullying, sexual exploitation, grooming and predation, and exposure of personal information and photos.
As a result, the FPB kicked off a roadshow with institutions of higher learning to further understand these online safety concerns from a South African youth perspective.
The roadshow targeted four previously disadvantaged universities, and will culminate in the summit, to be held on 22 and 23 September.
The summit aims to better develop regulatory and non-regulatory instruments and tools in response to their concerns and needs, states the FPB.
Youth expect to be kept safe and taught the skills needed to navigate the internet safely, as well as be involved in decision-making around online safety and to design digital resources that cater for their diverse needs, it adds.
“Various institutions are scheduled to engage the youth during the summit, including the Australian eSafety Commissioner and Media Monitoring Africa. A number of panel discussion will be conducted for big tech and regulators, and the summit will include a number of dignitaries and representatives from government departments.”
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