The dangers of digital media

Smartphones have opened a world of new possibilities such as storing memories in a picture, text message or even video format, just to name a few. But everyone should be careful about what they post on social media.

There are many examples of wrongdoing on social media, for example an article by BBC News showed how students from a prestigious school were involved in an alleged sexual violence case. In this case, a 10-year-old schoolgirl was allegedly drugged by fellow male learners and coerced into acting out sexual acts. All of this happened while the students were on a school trip to Dubai.

Young people and adults sometimes forget that there are laws regulating what you post on social media. Although laws differ from country to country, there are still laws in place when it comes to taking and sharing certain videos, pictures, or audio, particularly of a sexual nature. This is especially serious when the victim is considered a minor or when the victim has not consented for the content to be shared.

Cyber crimes remain an issue for people globally, and in South Africa the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) was promulgated into law to protect people’s private information. The act serves not only to protect your private information but also to “regulate the manner in which personal information may be processed, by establishing conditions, in harmony with international standards, that prescribe the minimum threshold requirements for the lawful processing of personal information”.

Students and staff members should be careful when using university equipment to access the internet. According to the North-West University website, “when the University approves someone as a user, the university and the user enter into a mutual contractual relationship of trust in terms of which the university obtains power of control over the activities of the user”. In other words, whatever you as a student or staff member of the institution, posts, tweets, retweets, likes, or shares, can be seen and you will be held liable should it come out that you were part of a possible scandal.

The website states that “no anti-Christian, immoral, pornographic and other morally corrupting information may be collected or made available on a computer”. 

According to Law For All, there are four things people should never post on their social media platforms namely: negative comments about your boss, colleagues or place of work; racist remarks or offensive or racially charged posts; sexually explicit photos or videos without someone’s consent and lastly, threats of violence and incitement to destroy property belonging to a certain group. 

Emma Sadlier, founder of The Digital Law Company, in an interview on eNCA Morning News Today, stated that unless you want to put your personal information on a billboard next to the busiest highway, then it does not belong on social media. 

“So, if you and I are speaking to each other (via social media), it has not been published for the purpose of our law, but the second we add a third person into our WhatsApp group, then it’s been published, and we (the law) treat it legally as if it has been published on the front paper of a newspaper,” said Sadlier. 

Gone are the days where one can take pictures of people without their consent and share it on social media. According to the POPI Act, people should now obtain the consent of individuals before posting a picture or video that other parties may be included in to post on social media.

The act also states that should some sort of income be made from posting certain content on social media, consent should have been obtained before posting.

Luleka Sindiswa Mkhweli (22), a BSc student in urban and regional planning, said ”I feel, as long as you do not violate other people’s rights, then you can use social media”. The important thing about social media is that you need to know and understand your rights and responsibility. When you do not have an idea about whatever it is a good idea to talk about something, it would probably be a good idea to remain silent on the matter, Mkhweli said. 

Thorisho Kgomo (23), a BCom in forensic accountancy student, said, ”freedom of speech actually has limitations”. She stated that generally things that are considered offensive are racist remarks and cyberbullying, just to name a few.