The Interception and Monitoring Bill (B50-2001) that sparked fears of Internet censorship last year is to be debated by the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development in the National Assembly tomorrow.
The Bill allows for monitoring of telecommunications and Internet communications in the course of criminal investigations or matters of national security. It obliges service providers to keep full details of all users it supplies services to, and makes it mandatory for service providers to acquire the necessary devices and facilities to monitor communications.
The Bill also bars service providers from providing telecommunications services that cannot be monitored. In terms of the Bill, central monitoring centres must also be established by organisations such as the South African Police Service, the Defence Force and the Directorate, for authorised monitoring of communications.
The Portfolio Committee reviewed 26 substantial submissions on the proposed Bill last year. The submissions, from various organisations, expressed concerns about the possibility of abuse of monitoring capacity and the likelihood that the costs to telecommunications service providers and Internet service providers could put smaller players out of business.
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