A lawyer has told parliament that an intervention needs to be made regarding podcasters as they operate in the realm and form of journalism but do not hold the same standards as journalists in terms of truth and accuracy.
“That is where intervention is needed, especially with local elections coming up,” said Odwa Abrahams, a lawyer at Webber Wentzel.
Abrahams was speaking in parliament on Tuesday during a roundtable discussion over the regulation of podcasts.
Among those who were part of the discussions were MPs, podcasters as well as members of civil society.
According to Abrahams, podcasters in South Africa already operate within existing legal frameworks, but questions remain about whether additional regulation is needed as the industry grows.
While they fall outside formal regulatory bodies, they are not entirely unregulated.
According to broadcast expert Dimitri Martins, podcast listenership is on the rise, with about 3.2-million listeners recorded in 2023, and projections showing growth to 4.8-million by 2027
“Podcasters are born into an already existing legal framework. We just need to identify precisely which parts we need to intervene in ... especially with local elections coming up,” he said.
William Baird, director of Media Monitoring Africa, suggested that podcasters producing news content could voluntarily subscribe to existing bodies such as the Press Council, while others could align with industry-led codes like the SA Podcast Guild.
He also said South Africa was not alone in grappling with how to regulate podcasts, cautioning against heavy-handed approaches.
“Broadly speaking, there is the mega and miga approach, which is what Donald Trump is running in the United States where they effectively take control of the media environment and platforms, and buy them out. Certainly, this one won’t work in SA.
“A clampdown approach regulates what others feel is censorship. What we can adopt is to start to distinguish platforms and the content to make sure they are accountable and operate within the constitutional framework.”
The discussion comes amid rapid growth in the sector.
According to broadcast expert Dimitri Martins, podcast listenership is on the rise, with about 3.2-million listeners recorded in 2023, and projections showing growth to 4.8-million by 2027.
About R156bn is allegedly spent on data to access such platforms in the last year, according to industry estimates.
MKP MP Sihle Ngubane told parliament that in the US there is a movement called the manosphere where the degrading of genders usually happens on podcasts.
“What if that culture is adopted in SA and explicit information is shared like on the MacG podcast? What is missing is something in between Icasa and FBP. Podcasts can’t just exist in a vacuum when they are in a country with laws. We need to see where these podcasters fit in.”
According to DA MP Tsholofelo Bodlani, the recourse for aggrieved people by the podcasters’ suggestions included approaching the courts.
“Litigation is expensive and can be quite lengthy, as that creates a vacuum. In my mind, I thought of a Chapter 9 institution, but do we need another institution like that? ”
Our intention is not necessarily to stifle this creativity, but to see how we can grow it. So there are obviously proposals that have been highlighted in terms of how we’re going to regulate this sector in the future. But for now, we just want to assess the impact
— Nonkqubela Thathakahle Jordan-Dyani, communications and digital technologies DG
Shara Singh, also from the DA, suggested that aggrieved people could approach the Ombudsman, but also said South Africa doesn’t need any more regulations.
“Already, SA is highly regulated, and our job is cutting the red tape, not piling it on across compliance issues. We should not overregulate, but there should be some kind of system.”
The chairperson of the portfolio committee on communications and digital technologies, Khusela Sangoni-Diko, said the roundtable was not intended to be punitive or an attempt at gagging, but rather to support and empower podcasters and creators.
Academic and podcaster Dr Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh said he would strongly resist the urge to characterise podcasts as some kind of problem.
“I would rather invite us to consider how we treat them as an emerging exemplar of excellence in the country at the moment.
“As far as the regulatory question goes, I think we have to be very careful here to consider what it is that we are regulating. For me, three distinct areas of regulation are apt: dignity harms like hate speech or defamation, explicitness, and protection of truth; disinformation, misinformation.”
On the other hand, Icasa chairperson Mothibi Ramusi said policymakers must first define the problem before proposing solutions, questioning whether regulation should focus on platforms or content creators.
The department of communications and digital technologies said the white paper on audio and audiovisual media services, in development since 2023, is expected to guide future policy.
“Our role as the department, whilst we have put out the audio and audiovisual white paper, our intention is not necessarily to stifle this creativity, but to see how we can grow it,” said the department’s director-general, Nonkqubela Thathakahle Jordan-Dyani.
“So there are obviously proposals that have been highlighted in terms of how we’re going to regulate this sector in the future. But for now, we just want to assess the impact.”
Sowetan
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