The Secrecy Bill,
more technically referred to as the Protection of State Information Bill, is a
proposed legislature that aims to regulate the dissemination and protection of
state information from journalists and whistle-blowers seeking to maintain transparency
between the government and society. I will attempt to explore the final result
of censorship and the effect it will have on journalists trying to maintain the
balance, objectivity and professional integrity in their reporting of our
government’s actions. The late and great South African president Nelson Mandela
once said that, “a critical, independent, and investigative
press is the lifeblood of any democracy. The press must be free from state
interference. It must have the economic strength to stand up to the
blandishments of government officials. It must have sufficient independence
from vested interests to be bold and inquiring without fear or favor.” The
current South African government - 20 years after the death of apartheid and
the end of regulated media censorship – has opted to set in place this
legislature with national security being the main defense, or excuse, behind
media regulation.
To
look at the purpose behind the secrecy bill is to look beyond the scapegoat of
‘national security’ and to other reasons behind its implementation. These
reasons may vary, as censorship - as well as political and/or religious control
of the media - is a prominent issue that has been around for well over 2000
years. According to the website Beacon for Freedom of Expression, censorship and its harsh results date back to
early Roman, Greek and Chinese routes. The Greek philosopher Socrates, around
the year 399BC, was condemned to consume poison for acts of spreading knowledge
that was deemed a threat to society. These ideas and lessons would go on to
shape Western politics and ethics that are still relevant today. The government
or rulers of the time would accuse Socrates of going against the gods and other
laws that were meant to govern common man. Nearly 600 years later and the Roman
Catholic Christian faith would label any acts, written works, or speeches as
heresy if it was deemed a threat to Christianity or the leaders of that
denomination. Cultural scripture, books, art and acts have been destroyed,
often along with the authors, by the Roman Catholic power that ruled over
Europe and spread to the Americas. Anything that was deemed a threat or a
problem to society by a king or religious leader was censored and thus
forbidden. As we can see through these patterns in history, the abuse of power
has been blatant since the early inception of man and it still bleeds into
present-day situations with the common man’s rights being sidelined for the
agendas of those that take seat at the zenith of social hierarchies.
A
combination of time and the martyrs that have forfeited their very own lives
for us has resulted in systems that are meant to protect and serve the
individual member of society as best as possible. The Constitution and Bill of
Human Rights have become fundamental to living a healthy, balanced and fair
life within society, proving that the people of a country/state/land are in
fact the reason for its very existence in the first place. With that being
said, position, ego and power are all factors that could either reap pure
benevolence or unadulterated malevolence for its people and a living society.
The
Right-to-Know organization is one that aims at bringing to light the current
situation of media control and regulation becoming evident in Southern Africa.
Our current president Jacob Zuma has attracted himself major controversy with
regard to the signing of the Secrecy Bill. If it is passed, journalists and
whistle-blowers will be under threat with regard to job security and their final
position in society (be it in prison or in exile). Right-to-Know have published
an article that brings to light a current example of censorship and the reason
behind it - “national security”. This article lists the possible detriments of a ‘national security’ approach to censorship:
·
The
public’s right to know is undermined;
·
The
public’s right to protest is under attack;
·
State-security
structures and crime intelligence is vulnerable to blatant misuse through
political agendas;
·
The
erosion of public trust.
The
result of media censorship through government is one that can extend to
grotesque proportions, as journalists from all around the world have been
murdered, exiled and incarcerated due to the regulations and mafia-like
mentality of political leaders. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has
listed on their website all of the known journalists that have been affected by
government –related attempts to silence the right to freedom of speech and to,
without interruption, receive and impart information. Over 706 journalists have
been documented as murdered since 1992 and statistically speaking, the majority
has been related to print-related journalists (58%); the beats covered of those
murdered were mostly politics (48%), corruption (29%) and war (24%); the
suspected sources of the aggressors were political (31%) and governmental
(23%); and a staggering 88% of the cases were handled with complete impunity
(no justice). These results show the darkness that is prevalent in the world
with regards to political leaders and their ultimate goal to ensure their
agendas are seen through to the end, no matter the lives lost in the process. A
letter from the CPJ urging the new Chief Operating Officer of the state-funded
South African Broadcast Commission, Hlaudi Motsoeneng, to change his views on
the licensing of journalists was sent expressing concern and unease with the
COO’s thoughts and speech concerning media freedom set for students at the
University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. With reference to the universal
and local human rights laws that are prevalent, CPJ have made it clear that
what is being done by the South African government is something to be concerned
about.
The
Protection of state information bill should, in my opinion, be done away with.
The world has lost thousands of beneficial and great people as a result of
censorship and the interruption of political and religious leaders, this
shouldn’t be allowed in a country that is considered democratic or even free
when the very foundation of that freedom, being the press, is under threat.
