26 April 2024, Business tech, Staff Reporter
Media Monitoring Africa, the South African National Editors Forum, the Campaign for Free Expression, the Press Council of South Africa, and the SOS Support Public Broadcasting Coalition served the FPB with an ultimatum to withdraw the notice or face legal action.
Among their concerns was that the definition of misinformation was overly broad by including people who unknowingly say something false.
They also argued that the FPB has no mandate to regulate misinformation and disinformation, and that the agency was effectively trying to enact new legislation without proper Parliamentary procedure.
Media Monitoring Africa director William Bird told 702 Talk Radio that the FPB was trying to create an entirely new class of crime without public consultation.