The regulation of social media, in light of issues including the spread of fake news and scams, is being considered, says Minister of State Security David Mahlobo.<\/p>\n
He was speaking on Sunday during a question and answer session with journalists following a press briefing by the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster (JCPS) brief.<\/p>\n
Mahlobo, responding to a question by a reporter about fake news, said aside from being used for what it was meant for, social media was being abused to, among other things, peddle false information.<\/p>\n
He said this was not unique to South Africa.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are contemplating to regulate the space. Even the best democracies that are revered, they regulate the space,\u201d Mahlobo said.<\/p>\n
He understood that this would not be an easy thing to do and could be seen to be \u201cinterfering with human rights\u201d.<\/p>\n
It would therefore need to be discussed with various bodies and forums.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will be discussing how do we regulate it,\u201d Mahlobo said.<\/p>\n
Aside from people misrepresenting themselves on social media, or even purporting to be others, he said problems included photographs being set up to depict fake scenes.<\/p>\n
Photoshopping images was also an issue.<\/p>\n