South Africans used the full power of social media this morning to protest against a law, set to be voted on this afternoon, which many fear will clamp down on media freedom.
Topics such as #BlackTuesday, #POIB, #SecrecyBill and #Protection of Information Bill were trending in Johannesburg early this morning as people protested the pending vote on the Bill in the National Assembly later this afternoon.
One tweet, by user volksbladnuus, was retweeted more than a hundred times and read: “█████ ██ █ ████ everything ███ █████ is█████ ████ ████ fine ████ ███ █ █████ love, █████ ██████ ███ your █████ ████ government #BlackTuesday”
Tweets were being sent every few minutes and some local journalists changed their profile picture to a black square in opposition to the pending law. The National Press Club and other opponents of the proposed Protection of Information Bill have urged South Africans to wear black on Tuesday as a sign of protest.
The vote by the National Assembly was originally scheduled for Wednesday, 23 November, but was reportedly changed to 2pm today.
City Press editor Ferial Haffajee tweeted: “Join the R2K [Right to Know] picket outside parliament on Tuesday from 1 - 2pm. We need to see our editors and journos join in the protest.” R2K is a civil movement that has been outspoken against the pending law.
Concerned citizens
Some have speculated that the change from Wednesday to Tuesday was to avoid the negative connotation of 'Black Wednesday' which refers to 19 October 1977, when The World and Sunday World newspapers and 19 black consciousness movements were banned by the apartheid government.
National Press Club chairman Yusuf Abramjee says: “The proposed law is going to affect all South Africans and we all need to stand up now. This Bill does not only affect the media - civil society at large needs to raise its voice now.”
Abramjee was this morning encouraging people to wear black to protest against the Bill being enacted into law through Twitter and was also protesting the Bill through Facebook.
“Until recently there was hope that a public interest defence clause would be included, but it appears it is not going to happen. This is of major concern.”
Abramjee says although the Protection of Information Bill will be challenged in the Constitutional Court, “we call on president Jacob Zuma not to sign it into law if Parliament votes for it”.
“He must do the right thing and refer it for review to the Constitutional Court if approved by Parliament.”
The National Press Club has also called on the print media to consider blacking out some reports on Wednesday to show what can happen with this law. “Electronic media should also bleep out some reports to drive the message home,” says Abramjee.
'Don't do this'
Chairman of Pick n Pay Stores and Pleiad Capital, Gareth Ackerman, has also spoken out against the Bill, calling on business to oppose it.
“Business can only flourish in a society where the flow of information is free and unfettered by undue state control. The apparent haste with which our government appears to wish to push this Bill through the House of Assembly will be damaging to foreign investment, which will place the livelihood and prosperity of many South Africans at risk,” says Ackerman.
“The right of the media to access information is one of the cornerstones of a responsible and open society with an accountable government.
“My sincere hope is that government will listen to the concerns of the public, the media and other interest groups, and that as many South Africans as possible come forward to say to our government: 'Please don't do this.'”
Below are some of the tweets on Twitter with the trending #BlackTuesday hashtag.
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