Meta and WhatsApp to hand over data on those behind child sexual abuse accounts →

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After a week of urgent litigation, the Johannesburg high court has ordered Meta, owner of Instagram, and WhatsApp LLC, to hand over — “to the extent available” — the names, addresses, phone numbers and IP addresses of the people behind the profiles and WhatsApp channels posting graphic child sexual abuse images.  

The court also ordered Meta and WhatsApp to remove 12 WhatsApp channels and 58 Instagram accounts, insofar as it was technically feasible, and for two years, whenever similar content is reported to them, they must take action within 48 hours.  

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Judge orders WhatsApp, Instagram to stop user posting sexual content of SA school kids →

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Judge Mudunwazi Makamu agreed to the orders sought by the Digital Law Company, which is directed by social media law expert Emma Sadleir, after advocate Ben Winks argued that dozens of children had been victimised by the publication of this material.

They had “no recourse” unless the person behind the publication of this private material was identified, he said.

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Kill the Boer: What do the courts' rulings mean for our political discourse? →

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In the midst of this political tumult, the Constitutional Court last month dealt a fatal blow to AfriForum's legal efforts to have "Shoot the Boer" (and related words) declared to be hate speech. The timing was somewhat unfortunate, as it seemed to support the claim by Trump's influencers that Afrikaners are systemically persecuted in South Africa and cannot even obtain protection from the courts.

But a closer look at the litigation is warranted.

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Why Julius Malema's call to 'kill' might not be hate speech (but is still unlawful) →

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Malema's speech last month, taken on its own, was a call to "kill" racists or white supremacists, who are not a protected group under our constitutional equality law. I do not believe that the term "racists" or "white supremacists" is coded language for white people as a race. Like in Masuku's case, the speech was not "based on prohibited grounds" and cannot constitute hate speech under South African law.

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SA law needs an overhaul to protect rape survivors →

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This is obviously a deeply entrenched social problem, rooted in long-held patriarchal notions of male ownership over women’s bodies. The law alone cannot solve it. But the law can, and should, do a lot to validate and vindicate the rights of women (and men and genderqueer people) who are subjected to sexual violations. Instead, what the law in SA does is validate the offender’s subjective sense of entitlement to someone else’s body.

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The Hate Crimes Bill – too much too late

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The fight against hatred in South Africa would have been much better off if, at least twenty years ago, the government had passed a simple amendment to the existing law, stating that hateful motive must be counted as an aggravating factor for sentencing. This would have been passed with no controversy or constitutional challenge.

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In a post-Qwelane world there may be more room for racists to escape legal consequences →

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But we must now be alert to the reality that, post-Qwelane, there is apparently greater room for bigots to escape legal consequences for insults and "jokes" that wound not only individuals, but whole groups at once – be they Muslim women, transgender people, refugees, or people with disabilities.

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Constitutional Court finally declares that hate is NOT okay →

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The Constitutional Court's finding that Qwelane's words constituted hate speech achieves two important things for the society that has left him behind. First, it declares that he was wrong: in this constitutional democracy, "gay" is more than "okay"; it is equal and dignified. Public expressions of queer love are brave and, like all love, beautiful.

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Why not kneel? How deep does 'rooigevaar' still run in the white South African psyche? →

In a country where black people are still struggling for dignity, equality and – importantly – property, it is deeply disturbing that the majority of the white players in a majority-white national sports team, are unprepared to make choices, however uncomfortable, that reflect the hope of a more equal and just society, rather than the irrational fear of reform.

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Ten years from Tatane to Ntumba: It is time to take rubber bullets out of protest policing →

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The death of Andries Tatane in 2011 should have brought an end to the police’s use of rubber bullets in public order policing, as should the report of the Marikana Commission of Enquiry. The recent death of Mthokozisi Ntumba would have been prevented if this had been done, and once more shows the urgency of the call to stop their use.

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New Frame: Anti-Chinese hate speech case back in court →

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Advocate Ben Winks asked Pon to take the court through the events that led to the current proceedings. He told the court that a joyful evening, after celebrating the Chinese New Year, was short-lived. One Facebook user had written on TCA’s Facebook page that he wished the Chinese community “death and destruction” on their New Year. 

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Constitutional Court searches for meaning of hate speech →

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Ben Winks for the Nelson Mandela Foundation argued that if the hate speech clause were to be read as closely as possible to section 16 (2) of the Constitution, it would exclude important cases from its ambit.

“Those that argue for maximum freedom of expression don’t tell us what should be done when black people are called bobbejaans or homosexuals are told that same-sex marriage is akin to bestiality. They don’t tell us,” he said.

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