{"id":649128,"date":"2026-05-21T18:22:04","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T16:22:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=649128"},"modified":"2026-05-21T18:26:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T16:26:16","slug":"proposal-to-force-digital-platforms-to-label-ai-generated-content-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/internet\/649128-proposal-to-force-digital-platforms-to-label-ai-generated-content-in-south-africa.html","title":{"rendered":"Proposal to force digital platforms to label AI-generated content in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said South Africa\u2019s national AI policy must force digital platforms to label AI-generated content and prohibit fake or misleading news about the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ntshavheni set out the proposal in the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) budget speech on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe problem of misinformation, disinformation and malinformation, generally characterised as fake news, remains a serious challenge,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have observed the contribution of digital media and artificial intelligence (AI) as theatres and tools of disinformation and misinformation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Ntshavheni, South Africa\u2019s position was exacerbated by the fact that its people were rated as the most propagandised people in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Ntshavheni\u2019s point was undermined by the fact that this itself appears to be misinformation. She cited the Ipsos Perils of Perception Index 2026<\/em> as evidence. No such report exists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ipsos Perils of Perception Index also does not conclude how propagandised people are. Instead, it focuses on public misperceptions and the gap between reality and what people believe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ntshavheni made her point more accurately in her following sentence: \u201cSouth Africans are amongst the most misinformed and disconnected from reality regarding the state of their own nation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of this, Ntshavheni said the GCIS\u2019s response to misinformation and disinformation must be deliberate and systematic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHaving observed how other countries are addressing this phenomenon, at a policy level, the National AI Policy must compel digital media platforms to disclose AI-generated content carried on their platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said this should include AI content branding, making it clear to users when images, videos, audio, or text were created using artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ntshavheni also said the policy should prohibit the broadcasting of fake and misleading news about South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the meantime, when the AI policy is being actually written and the Cybersecurity Strategy being finalised, the GCIS will engage with digital platform owners on the two proposed principles,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This remark contained yet another dig at communications minister Solly Malatsi, who was recently forced to withdraw South Africa\u2019s draft national AI policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was discovered that the policy included references to AI-generated sources<\/a>, raising questions about how much of the document was written by a large language model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ministry of Truth<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

MyBroadband previously reported that the draft policy was prepared with limited or no engagement with South Africa\u2019s leading AI experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Malatsi has since appointed an independent expert panel to help direct the new national AI policy process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The panel will be chaired by Professor Benjamin Rosman, director of the University of the Witwatersrand MIND Institute and one of South Africa\u2019s foremost AI experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He will be joined by Professor Vukosi Marivate, Dr Tshepo Feela, Dr Jabu Mtsweni, Professor Alison Gillwald, Advocate Lufuno Tshikalange, and Heather Irvine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rosman is one of three South Africans, excluding Elon Musk, featured on Time\u2019s 2025 list of the 100 Most Influential People in AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to proposing mandatory disclosure of AI-generated content, Ntshavheni said the GCIS was provisioning for a government fact-checking capability to \u201cproactively\u201d debunk deepfakes and tactical misinformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis measure seeks to progress the current stamping of fake news, by collating the stamped fake news images, videos and stories,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis will enable individuals to personally check, through the creation of a dedicated website supported by a digital platform.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ntshavheni said the GCIS would also provide facts to counter the fake news. \u201cThe goal is to position GCIS as the anchor of the truth,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIndividuals will also be able to alert GCIS on suspected fake news which they would have come across.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said a government fact-checking service would be established inside the GCIS to debunk misinformation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":649129,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[92837,18668,18],"tags":[22745,17402],"class_list":["post-649128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ai","category-government","category-internet","tag-government-communications-and-information-system-gcis","tag-khumbudzo-ntshavheni"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649128"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=649128"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":649134,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649128\/revisions\/649134"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/649129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=649128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=649128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=649128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}