Film and Publication Board becomes full-fledged online content regulator

The Film and Publication Board (FPB) is focused on increasing staff and technological capacity, to enable it to implement its expanded mandate which includes online regulation.

That’s according to FPB Acting CEO Dr Mashilo Boloka, speaking at the entity’s industry and stakeholder engagement on Friday.

The high staff attrition rate of the BFP and its insufficient capacity is an area that has recently been highlighted by the parliamentary communications portfolio committee, with the entity’s management promising corrective measures.

Boloka said the organization has begun its transformation in preparation for the rigors of the new mandate, which has seen him advertise some positions.

The new FPB Amendment Act (FPA) of 2019, which was signed into law on March 1, aims to transform the entity into a full-fledged content regulator in the new online environment.

In line with the new structure, the FPB is on a new journey of transformation into a regulator and educator of digital content, Boloka said, adding that it is the entity’s job not just to regulate, but to educate the public and young people.

“In the past two months, the FPA law has come into force. We have worked hard to change the way the BFP does things, in particular by focusing our energy, efforts and resources on this expanded mandate.

“We all know what the mandate is, because insofar as we pursue classification, we have a huge responsibility in terms of protecting the public from what we call harmful and inappropriate online content. We’re still focusing on the narrow classification, but this new area that we need to look at…we’ve started the process to do that.

Dr. Mashilo Boloka, acting CEO of the Film and Publication Board.

According to the interim CEO, the new mandate means that the classification mandate that the BPF had over the history of the organization must now accommodate approximately 65% ​​to 70% of a new area.

Speaking to ITWeb, Boloka further explained that FPB has decided on a phased approach to implement the new mandate, with organizational transformation and technology capability as the first and second phases, respectively.

“Organizational transformation requires capacity and regulatory instruments; you build that by putting structures in place – that’s the first part.

“The second part is what we call making the organization a digital-first organization. Most of the things we do – because of our history – are still manual. So you automate and make sure we have technology to help you execute your mandate. We’ll be focusing on that phase next year. That’s why we’re hiring people and developing all of these things.

“The third phase will be full implementation, with lessons as you go. We’re dealing with a fast-paced industry, where you don’t know what’s going to happen this year or next year. Our idea is to build more business intelligence to give us this predictive capability; say this industry is going this way, but how do we deal with this change.

“One of the issues we have to deal with is classification. However, going forward, the question is whether we should continue to rank, given the volumes of material we are going to get, especially online.

Boloka pointed out that the FPB is being built to be the content regulator of the future.

“If you want the future, FPB is the future. If you want a dead end, then we’re looking at all the other regulators.

Building a regulator of the future, the FPB on Friday announced the appointed members of the Law Enforcement Committee and the Appeals Tribunal.

Additionally, more people will come to develop part of the instruments, monitor compliance and review industry codes, as some industries work with codes, Boloka noted.

“We also need a lot of monitors online, to check what kind of content is being distributed and educate platform owners, whether it’s for a takedown or to find a solution.

“You also need people to take care of public education. We are more than just a regulator; we are also a digital educator. Child protection and public education is the biggest area of ​​our work going forward, in addition to the regulatory capacity that we want to develop, as well as the technological capacity. The kind of people we need are more young people who understand how technology works.

“For us, we want to build technological and intellectual capabilities. We want young people who can communicate with their peers.

Boloka reiterated Communications Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni’s assertions that SA needs a single content regulation system – carried out by the FPB.

“This is the way forward. Whether you are SABC, it doesn’t matter what platform you operate. Before obtaining the license, you must obtain a content license from FPB.

“Our regulatory posture will not be a heavy handed approach but rather to say that at the beginning: let’s engage and correct some things. However, if you don’t correct, that’s when we’ll go down the enforcement route,” he concluded.