Chairperson, we all know and we do not have to go into this, how the original draft of the Film and Publication Bill caused enormous concern and debate, not only within the affected media, but within the public in general. At the onset of this debate we would like to reiterate our commitment to the constitutional definition of freedom of expression contained in section 16 of the Bill of Rights and also its limitations.
We would also say that we entered the debate wanting to exempt content in section 22(3) of the existing Bill to be retained. In our discussions with the media, and I must agree with the Minister, they were very robust, very informative and I for one, felt that there was a very sincere commitment - and possibly because of the amount of publicity this Bill has already received - by the print media to enhance its self-regulatory processes. And I would suggest to the committee and to all of us that we pursue this matter with them and stay in contact with them and share the discussion around this matter. All the discussions we had were very open and constructive. We would like to say that despite all the extra meetings that were necessary to arrive at the conclusions we have today, because the Bill extends child protection laws criminalises creating, distributing and possession of child pornography through the Internet and cellphones, and Internet and cellphones providers no longer being self-regulatory yet subject to offences for noncompliance with regulations, we can agree with it.
I would like to separate issues here. Child pornography is a major issue not only in South Africa; it is a global issue which most of the country and I have looked at legislation and the debates on the subjects of pornography, and the answers are not there yet.
On behalf of the IFP, I would want to record our commitment to finding workable solutions to limiting access by young people to all forms of pornography. And I must say there is a somewhat cynical description. We heard during our discussions that there was real pornography which should be stopped, but it was alright to have virtual pornography. I mean all these things affect our children and we have a duty to protect our children.
So I have given you the reason why we support the Bill but I need to concentrate on this: On the things that the Bill is doing and the things it does not do. And I am of course referring to controlling juvenile access to all pornography, of course, especially child pornography.
We know juveniles have found ways to bypass existing access systems which are meant to prevent them from viewing pornography on the Internet or cellphones. We have to realise that whatever new control systems will be designed, they will try their utmost to find ways of bypassing them too. [Time expired.] [Applause.]