South Africa PEN South Africa, the Freedom of Expression Institute and the Right2Know Campaign and other organisations have called for the withdrawal of the draft regulation as it is likely to restrict the expression of opinion in the country. They are also concerned that other governments in Africa and elsewhere may adopt the South African approach or similar approaches as appropriate not only for their efforts to control cyberspace in the interests of childhood protection, but also to protect themselves against legitimate criticism which could result in inroads on media freedom and freedom of expression occurring. Particularly objectionable is the requirement that online content distributors should be registered and thus could be de-registered for failure to comply with the board’s extensive requirements which means they can be prevented from publishing online. In effect, this creates a licensing system which can be used to violate constitutionally protected freedom of expression online and curbing the flow of information, the exchange of ideas and the engagement in creative writing online. One of the uncertainties in the proposals is whether every content distributor in the world would have to register with the FPB or, failing that, be in breach of the regulations since they all make content available in South Africa. The expanded effect of such a regulation should these proposals be adopted in other countries defies comprehension. Exempted from the regulations in South Africa are the websites of newspapers and magazines which are members of the Press Council and those organisations and individuals that apply to become members of the council – but that leaves the FPB in control over the remaining large number of bloggers, in- ternet platform users and others that do not take that option, which is unhealthy in a democratic state. Cybersecurity Bill threatens freedom of speech On 2 September 2015, government published a Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Bill for public comment. The law is designed to bring South African law into line with international standards and create specific offences for internetrelated crime. The proposed aims to address a number of valid objectives, such as giving better legal definition to crimes such as identity theft, network hacking, online copyright violation and malware attacks. While the bill does indeed include many progressive clauses, at the same time experts have warned that the bill is too broad and encroaches on constitutional freedoms. The bill places excessive limitations on online freedoms such as the right to access information, right to privacy, and the right to freedom of expression and opinion. The bill gives the South African Police Service and the State Security Agency overly far-reaching powers to investigate, search, access and seize just about anything. Furthermore, the bill will criminalise whistleblowing, as well impact on investigative reporting. Advocacy groups such as the Right2Know (R2K), PEN, Freedom of Expression Institute have stated that says while there is need to combat genuine cyber-crimes and protect national security in the country, the Bill is so broad and open to abuse and should be re-written. So This is Democracy? 2015 61