Information Regulator says it's powerless against non-compliant social media companies

  • 📰 ewnupdates
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 56 sec. here
  • 13 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 64%
  • Publisher: 53%

Ewn News

Ewn News,News,Eyewitness News

In a media briefing on Wednesday, the Information Regulator says Google, Meta, X and Whatsapp have told it the Promotion of Access to Information Act does not apply to them since they are foreign companies.

JOHANNESBURG - The Information Regulator says while big social media companies are not complying with the country’s privacy data, it doesn’t have the desire nor the powers to ban them from operating in South Africa.

Recently, a Brazilian high court ordered for X, formerly known as Twitter, to cease operations in the country after failing to abide by its laws. In a media briefing on Wednesday, the Information Regulator said Google, Meta, X and WhatsApp have told it the Promotion of Access to Information Act does not apply to them since they are foreign companies.The Information regulator's chairperson, Pansy Tlakula, said all companies operating in South Africa were required to abide by the country’s laws.

However, she said the regulator has little to no recourse to punish these companies for non-compliance. “Banning Twitter as it was done in Brazil, I don’t think the regulator has those powers. If that is going to happen, it’s the government that has to do so but I think taking into consideration the importance of the right to freedom of expression and the need to balance that right against other rights… I am not speaking for government, I think it will be difficult for the South African government that holds the right to freedom of expression so high to ban a social media platform.

We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 30. in CA
 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.

Canada Canada Latest News, Canada Canada Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Information Regulator says there are limitations to force big tech companies to complyThe Regulator said that it is currently looking into Google, Meta and X formerly known as Twitter, for breaches to the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA).
Source: ewnupdates - 🏆 30. / 53 Read more »

Information Regulator close to finalising regulation of telemarketing industryIn a media briefing on Wednesday, the regulator said it is aware of the public’s growing frustration with the direct marketing calls.
Source: ewnreporter - 🏆 35. / 51 Read more »