You could soon face jail time for sending these 3 types of Facebook or WhatsApp messages in South Africa

After a long delay, Parliament’s Justice Committee officially adopted the Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Bill last week.

While a number of major amendments have been made since it was first proposed in 2017, the Bill is still primarily aimed at bringing South Africa in line with other countries’ cyber laws as well as the ever-growing threat of cybercrime.

While the majority of the Bill focuses on criminalising the theft and interference of data, it has also introduced new laws surrounding any ‘malicious’ electronic communication.

Concerns have previously been raised about the ‘vagueness’ of these messaging rules, especially because of the steep consequences attached to them.

We outline these proposed new crimes below.

Any person who contravenes one of the following provisions is liable on conviction to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three years, or to both a fine and imprisonment.

A message which incites damage to property or violence

Any person who unlawfully makes available, broadcasts or distributes by means of a computer system, a data message to a person, group of persons or the general public with the intention to incite:

(a) the causing of any damage to property belonging to; or
(b) violence against, a person or a group of persons.

It further clarifies that ‘violence’ means any bodily harm, while ‘damage to property’ means damage to any corporeal or incorporeal property.

A message which threatens persons with damage to property or violence

As an extension of the above, the Bill also makes it an offense to distribute messages which threatens a group of people with violence, or with damage to their property.

The Bill clarifies that ‘group of persons’ means characteristics that identify an individual as a member of a group,

These characteristics include without limitation:

• Race;
• Gender;
• Sex;
• Pregnancy;
• Marital status;
• Ethnic or social origin;
• Colour;
• Sexual orientation;
• Age;
• Disability;
• Religion;
• Conscience;
• Belief;
• Culture;
• Language;
• Birth and nationality.

A message which unlawfully contains an intimate image

Any person who sends a message containing an intimate image of a person without their consent is guilty of an offence.

The Bill describes an ‘intimate image’ as both real and simulated messages which show the person as nude or display his or her genital organs or anal region.

This includes instances where the person is identifiable through descriptions in the message or from other information displayed in the data message.

It also notes that the message is an offense if the person is female and her covered genitals or breasts are displayed in a manner that violates or offends her sexual integrity or dignity.

To read the full Bill, please click here.