We all know a potential cybercriminal.
It could be your spouse, your neighbour or the man next door.
The Cybercrime Bill criminalises certain electronic data messages which may take the form of SMS, e-mail or social media correspondence.
It was accepted by Parliament’s Justice Committee last week. The bill is not legally binding at the moment. The committee’s acceptance is followed by a submission of the bill to parliament where the respective houses debate and decide whether it should become law or not. After this phase the bill will be passed to the president and possibly signed into law.
In other words, you cannot yet be prosecuted for the crimes it defines.
Nonetheless, it has sent social media users into frenzy.
Section 14 will make it a criminal act to incite violence or damage to property in an electronic data message. This includes messages sent via WhatsApp, Facebook, e-mail, SMS or any similar communications platform.
Section 15 will criminalise data messages that threaten others with violence or damage to property against individuals or groups. Groups may be characterised according to factors like race, gender, marital status, gender, ethnic or social orientation and belief.
Section 16 will make it criminally culpable to make an intimate image of someone available in an unlawful and intentional way.
Read: Things to remember before you press the ‘send’ button
I don’t think these rules justify a frenzy.
These are nothing new. Social media users agree to refrain from these types of behaviour when signing up to use these platforms. South African law includes the Harassment Act, the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act and common law criminalising damage to property and violence.
What’s new is the criminal status of these electronically performed acts and the possibility of three years behind bars upon conviction.
Now that is a scary prospect.
Many may wonder whether it is justifiable to curb the right to freedom of expression to the extent that communication could be a crime.
People seem to think that otherwise criminal acts evade consequences if performed online. Too many South Africans have proved their ignorance of existing rules.
Threats of violence and damage to property is rampant on social media networks. Some of these threats are rooted in discrimination. Revenge porn entails furious exes sharing naked images of their former lovers onto online community groups. It happens every single day.
I know people who have done these things. You probably know some, too. They are members of your community and may even live in your street or in your home.
In considering whether the criminalisation of certain electronic messages is fair, two questions keep finding their way back to my thoughts.
1.) Do South African social media users subject themselves to social media regulations or non-criminal laws?
Seemingly not.
2.) Will South Africans align themselves with rules that, when contravened, could bring about a prison sentence?
I sure hope so.
Eloff is an admitted attorney, reporter and legal adviser for Caxton, this publication’s parent company
