(FXI/IFEX) – The following is a 7 May 2003 FXI press release: FXI releases report on the state of censorship in South Africa The Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) has just released a report on the activities of its Anti-Censorship Programme (ACP), which has been in existence since June 2002. A decision was taken to […]
(FXI/IFEX) – The following is a 7 May 2003 FXI press release:
FXI releases report on the state of censorship in South Africa
The Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) has just released a report on the activities of its Anti-Censorship Programme (ACP), which has been in existence since June 2002. A decision was taken to establish the Programme last year, after the FXI experienced a sharp rise in the number of censorship cases it was being called on to handle.
In the report, the FXI notes that its decision to establish the Programme has been vindicated, as censorship is clearly increasing in South Africa.
The ACP has also noted that the more unmediated and popular forms of expression are more under threat, especially those involving mass meetings, assembly and demonstrations, and the use of popular media, like graffiti and pamphlets. Very few of the ACP’s cases relate to more ‘traditional’ forms of media freedom violations, such as the censorship of journalists. These cases involve not only instances of censorship at the hands of the state, but at the hands of parastatals, the private sector and civil society organisations, and involve disputes around the provision of electricity, housing, health, land and a clean environment.
For example, the ACP is supporting an activist who has been accused of defamation for the contents of a pamphlet against the conduct of an inner-city property owner. In another case, anti-eviction activists have been banned from participating in activities and organisations opposing evictions in one of the most depressed townships in the country. In other cases, attempts have been made to censor residents of communities suffering environmental pollution by large companies. Union leaders have been prevented from advocating anti-privatisation views, and landless people have been subjected to harassment by the state intelligence agency and arrests by the police, especially over the period when South Africa played host to the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development, from August to September 2002.
In analysing why censorship has increased, the FXI has noted that this increase is linked to increases in unemployment and inequality in South Africa. Presently, according to the expanded definition of unemployment, fully 45% of the economically active population is unemployed. Income inequalities have also increased. In 1995, the average white household earned four times as much as the average African household. In 2000, the former earned six times as much.
Extreme inequalities are giving rise to social contradictions, which in turn are generating their own opposition. In the past two years, South Africa has seen the rise of independent social movements taking up struggles around access to basic services, affordable health treatment and against privatisation; these include organisations such as the Social Movement Indaba, the Treatment Action Campaign, the Landless Peoples’ Movement, the Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee and the Anti-Privatisation Forum. Their style of politics have included direct action, leading to ongoing confrontation with the authorities and, more recently, incidents of censorship and repression. As a result, an increasing number of the ACP’s cases are coming from the social movements, and relate especially to the overly restrictive regulation of assembly and demonstrations, through the Regulation of Gatherings Act.
The ACP has also taken up cases of artists whose songs have been censored for offensive lyrics. Attempts to censor ‘hate speech’ are taking place more and more often. The health sector is also experiencing more censorship.
The ACP has also noted that it has been especially difficult sometimes to get the full co-operation of victims of censorship in order to mount the required defence and provide support. In certain cases, the victims are reluctant to provide the required information for a host of reasons, including fear of jeopardising their chances with their employers. The ACP has also handled numerous cases on a confidential basis given the fact that some victims of censorship have feared reprisals from their employers. Hence, these cases are not listed here.
The ACP has also been campaigning against the Anti-Terrorism Bill and other new pieces of censorship legislation coming into the statute books, and has also been developing legal strategies to remove old apartheid legislation from the books.
The ACP is in the process of devising strategies, campaigns and research on how to deal with censorship in the country on a proactive basis. Networking has also been strongly considered as one of the key elements for the programme and will be factored into many of the ACP’s intervention strategies.
At the same time, the ACP has identified a need to root itself much more strongly at the community level. This means that the programme should embark on a nation-wide education and awareness campaign. The programme has recognised that victims of censorship in the rural areas encounter serious disadvantages in the sense that they have little or no institutional support, and they are in many ways marginalised by the mainstream media.
The report is available on the FXI’s website, at http://www.fxi.org.za/
