Most paedophile-related activities involve the Internet in some way, and proposed legislation aims to toughen up on this area, an SA Film and Publication Board executive says.
Iyavar Chetty, senior executive of the SA Film and Publication Board, says proposed amendments to the Film and Publications Act aim to toughen up on sentences given to those found in possession of child pornography as well as bring Internet service providers (ISPs) under the Act.
Chetty says the amendments, which have been approved by cabinet and now lie with the ministry of home affairs, seek to improve existing legislation by further defining what child pornography is and how to combat it.
"The amendments include increasing the maximum jail sentence for those convicted of being in possession of child pornography from five years to ten years, and extending liability to ISPs for local Web sites which contain child pornography."
While ISPs cannot be expected to monitor all traffic going through their servers, they will have to act on basis of knowledge, removing or blocking porn Web sites when they become aware of them or face liability, he said.
The issue of child pornography has been highlighted in the media over the past two weeks, with a Durban-based Russian couple facing 20 counts of indecent assault against two of their children. Camera equipment, a computer and dozens of CDs and DVDs were seized from the couple`s home by police.
In another case, the Cape Town police revealed on Saturday that they had made the biggest child pornography bust in the province`s history, confiscating a vast quantity of material including video, digital and photographic images from a teacher.
Chetty said the cases are important because they are making the public aware that child pornography is not solely coming into the country through the downloading of material from overseas.
"It has now come to light that that SA children are being used. Arrests and examination of images have clearly identified locals in making and producing child pornography."
Chetty, who addressed Internet Week in Johannesburg last week, said that according to the Britain`s Internet Watch Foundation, there are around one million images of child abuse in circulation on the Internet and the number is expanding by about 200 a day.
Further studies showed that an estimated 90% of all paedophile-related activities involve the Internet, he said.
While local legislation governing child pornography is, according to Chetty, some of the best in the world, government needs to do more to combat child pornography.
"Government is starting to see that it is only scratching the surface on this issue. At present the child protection unit is so overwhelmed that they aren`t able to tackle the issue properly. I would therefore like to see the formation of a special task force to deal with child pornography."
The task force would not only educate members of the public about child porn, but it could also build the necessary intelligence profiles in child pornography cases and work closely with international authorities to combat the problem, he explained.
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