According to ISPA, the Internet Service Providers’ Association, residents in SA are not protected when sharing inappropriate content on main social media channels

As the laws of the country do not cover citizens attempting to remove unlawful content posted on social media platforms, ISPA warns local users to be aware of the posting policy when using the channels.

As We Are Social’s 2016 Digital Report states, the country’s top 10 most used social media platforms are hosted internationally, as citizens are therefore obliged to turn to international laws when trying to solve issues related to this matter.

“This is particularly true for parents allowing their children to use these platforms, who need to know what remedies they have to get content removed if the child is the victim of an incident,” shows a report issued by ISPA.

For example, inappropriate content can only be removed by a takedown submission to ISPA, and only if the specified platform is hosted by a member of the Internet Service Providers’ Association.

In order to avoid impediments, ISPA urged South Africans to respect each social media platform’s terms of service limiting hate speech or any kind of unsuitable content.