How will this new requirement hinder how people will be posting videos or livestreaming online? There is also the great Constitutional infringement on one’s freedom of speech and expression as enshrined in the Constitution. Of great concern is the effect this will have on the South African online entertainment market. In essence, anyone who uploads videos on any social media platform (youtube, facebook, twitter etc) prior to classification or with or without being a registered distributor will be committing an offence even if there is no revenue to be generated from that video. The failure to have the film or recording classified prior to publishing will be a criminal offence. The classification application slows this down and could potentially hinder revenue generation and the relevance of the content at the time of publishing for content creators. This is how content creators make their revenue. One of social media’s best-selling points is the speed at which content is posted online, the number of interactions the content makes and the number of engagements the post generates.
This also begs the question, does the Film and Publication Board have the resources and capacity to efficiently and effectively take on such a task? The classification will prove to be impossible to comply with as this will mean that all social media users will need to have their content classified by the Film and Publication Board before publication, which will be near impossible given the number of social media users in South Africa and the number of videos that are uploaded each minute. This gives the Film and Publication Board the mandate to pre-classify any content before it is published online, and the authority to veto any content from being published online and if published online, the ability to request that it be taken down if it is shown to be in violation with the Act. This will be a monitoring mechanism on all social media content that will be distributed online commercially or otherwise. The Amendment requires all social media content creators to register with the Film and Publications Board and become registered distributors. This is problematic as the Film and Publication Board (FPB) will now have the power to censor content it deems inappropriate and thus will not be published online. The new amendment requires classification prior to one publishing their content online.
There are major concerns over how this Act will impact and affect content creators and those in the entertainment industry. The Act has come under fire for its controversial requirements and has rightfully been dubbed the “Internet Censorship Bill”. This Act will come into effect at a later date to be proclaimed by the President.
Quintus, sole survivor of a Pictish raid on a Roman frontier fort, marches north with General Virilus’ legendary Ninth Legion, under orders to wipe the Picts from the face of the earth and destroy their leader Gorlacon.īut when the legion is ambushed on unfamiliar ground, and Virilus taken captive, Quintus faces a desperate struggle to keep his small platoon alive behind enemy lines, evading remorseless Pict pursuers over harsh terrain, as the band of soldiers race to rescue their General, and to reach the safety of the Roman frontier.įrom writer/director, Neil Marshall, Centurion is a gripping survival thriller set against a background of conquest and invasion a pursuit movie in the vein of Deliverance, Last of the Mohicans and Apocalypto.In October 2019, the President of South Africa signed the Film and Publications Amendment Bill into law. But in northern Britain, the relentless onslaught of conquest has ground to a halt in face of the guerrilla tactics of an elusive enemy: the savage and terrifying tribes known as the Picts. The Roman Empire stretches from Egypt to Spain, and East as far as the Black Sea.