Financial reporter
The traditional media’s disruption by digital platforms, and the rise of content creators and influencers, has got ahead of South Africa’s regulators.
This is according to submissions heard by parliament’s portfolio committee on communications and digital technologies on Tuesday morning.
The committee heard input during an engagement scheduled as a “roundtable on the regulation of podcasts”. However, from the beginning of the meeting, it became clear MPs wanted to understand the social discourse around and economic opportunities of podcasts.
Dimitri Martinis, a digital media principal consultant, told the committee that policymakers needed to recognise SA is working in “a converged environment”.
“This will be something legislation recognised as far back as 2005 with the promulgation of the Electronic Communications Act. We have essentially different industries that are now telephoning and watching television. It’s that sort of civil perspective.”
He shared numbers that illustrated how online digital platforms have grown over the past decade into dominant forces, expanding exponentially each year.
“I’d like you to guess how long it took some of these disruptive technologies to reach one million viewers. It took Netflix three and a half years to reach a million subscribers.
“It took Airbnb two-and-a-half months, Facebook 10 months and Spotify five months to reach a million subscribers. It took the iPhone 74 days and Instagram 25 days. Have you seen the pattern? In principle, ChatGPT took five days to reach a million. Today ChatGPT and many other AI systems have 2-billion visits per day.”
Portfolio committee chair Sangoni Diko said the purpose of the meeting was not to discuss the regulation of podcasts, but to get South Africans to discuss the multibillion-dollar industry that is digital content creation.
“You have a sector that is creating an immense number of jobs. Young people are finding entrepreneurship opportunities within that, and it’s a sector we believe we should actively support as parliament.”
She said government would also consider the drawbacks.
“I don’t think I need to explain the impact social media has had in our society. We have seen AI undress women on social media.
“These are some of the harms I think we need to balance as we warmly welcome innovation and digital inclusion.”
She said South Africa was engaging with a medium that has become a cornerstone of cultural expression, a powerful tool for journalism and storytelling, and a rapidly growing engine for digital entrepreneurship.
“That the podcasting sector has grown in South Africa is undeniable. From political commentary to community storytelling, from education to entrepreneurship, podcasts are enriching our public discourse and providing platforms for voices that are often unheard in traditional media.”
She said the committee believed this was a success story of innovation and digital inclusion, but the rapid growth of the sector “also brings us to a critical juncture”.
“The legislative and policy frameworks that govern our communication landscape were, for the most part, designed for a bygone era. If you look at our Electronic Communications Act, it was built around the concept of linear broadcasting and scarce spectrum, and does not easily apply to the one-to-one internet-based world of podcasting.
“This misalignment represents a structural regulatory gap. While the constitution, Protection of Personal Information Act and Cybercrimes Act provide a foundational floor of rights and responsibilities, what we believe we lack is a coherent, forward-looking framework for the sector.”
She said the vision of the engagement was to create political purpose around a governance framework that protects public interest, the safety of minors and the integrity of South Africa’s democratic discourse “without stifling the creativity, innovation and freedom of expression that makes podcasts so powerful”.
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