Latest news with #DigitalLawCompany
eNCA
5 days ago
- Business
- eNCA
SA lawyer forces US tech giant to name site users
JOHANNESBURG - In a story similar to the Biblical David and Goliath, a South African lawyer and owner of the Digital Law Company has forced a US tech giant to disclose information about explicit content. The lawyer, Emma Sadlier, made WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram owner Meta Platforms disclose the information of users posting explicit content of South African schoolchildren. The Digital Law Company discovered over 1,000 explicit posts of children, including videos and photos, published by 30 Meta accounts in just a few days.
The South African
7 days ago
- The South African
Warning: Why parents should check kids WhatsApp channels
Social media law expert Emma Sadleir has issued an urgent warning to parents across South Africa to monitor their children's WhatsApp channels, following a sharp increase in harmful and illegal content being distributed via the platform, particularly in Gauteng. Sadleir, founder of The Digital Law Company, said that an 'awful thread of communication' is spreading through WhatsApp Channels – a relatively new feature that allows users to broadcast messages to unlimited followers – with children being directly targeted. 'The type of content we're seeing includes child sexual abuse material, defamation, crimen injuria, and the unauthorised sharing of personal details, including social media handles,' Sadleir said. While the disturbing trend has been noted across the country, she flagged Johannesburg as a particular hotspot for this illicit digital activity. Unlike traditional WhatsApp groups, WhatsApp channels can host unlimited followers, making it harder to control who receives content – and who's behind it. Sadleir revealed that children are being added or directed to channels containing explicit and criminal material, often without the knowledge of their parents or guardians. The Digital Law Company is now actively working with legal professionals in preparation for court action aimed at identifying and holding the culprits accountable. Sadleir urged parents to take immediate action: Check your child's WhatsApp Channels by going to the 'Updates' tab (bottom left corner on most devices). Report any illegal or harmful content through WhatsApp's reporting function. Talk to children about the risks of unknown or unsolicited channel invites. 'The only way we can bring these criminals to justice and put pressure on Meta [WhatsApp's parent company] to act, is if people report this content,' she said. This alarming development underscores a broader issue facing South African families: the growing dangers of unsupervised screen time and digital communication platforms. Recent studies have already linked excessive screen time to emotional and behavioural issues in children – but this latest warning adds an urgent criminal safety dimension to the concern. Sadleir's message to parents is clear: 'Be proactive. Be present. Be vigilant.' Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
The Citizen
20-07-2025
- Politics
- The Citizen
Why do courts need to protect children?
Why are those platforms not playing ball, and why does it take going to court to force them to — especially when it's about protecting children? As the legal upper guardian of all children, the high court really delivered in its action against Meta. It's frightening that the Digital Law Company had to go to court to deal with Instagram profiles and WhatsApp channels disseminating child sexual content, but I guess some privacy is more important than others? Take nothing away from the massive achievement this is for protecting children, and thank goodness for the existence of the Digital Law Company, which ran this matter with urgency. What are social media giants doing to stop the filth? This is a victory to be celebrated. Once the dust settles, the difficult questions need to be put to the social media giants: why was going to court necessary? Our cyber laws really do go a long way in making these kinds of activities criminal and placing legal obligations on those who have control over the platforms to prevent and report. Not only do we have laws for these things, but the user policies of these platforms also prohibit child sexual content. So even if South Africa was blind to the existence of child abuse, which thankfully it is not, these platforms are self-obligated to deal with the matter. And yet, here we are, having to take up court time to deal with something that should never have happened, and when it did, should have taken less than a phone call to remove. Let police and prosecutors work What I'm so appreciative of is that the focus on the settlement agreement turned order doesn't allow for the immediate publicity of the details of the perpetrators. This may seem counterintuitive, but it is actually in line with a well-considered standard of care. Sometimes, the children involved can be identified when the accused is identified, and sometimes, there is collateral reputational damage to innocent people when names are simply released. Allowing the specialised investigative unit and prosecuting authority to build a case will likely eventually reveal the names, but in a responsible way that will take into consideration the welfare of the kids and the possibility of re-traumatising them. But again, why did the court need to get involved? Why is there a need for a hotline between the Digital Law Company and Meta? As great a result as that is, why must it come down to reporting before anything is done? If Google can identify that I have an illegal copy of The Jungle Book on my GDrive, I don't think it's a far stretch to build AI models that can detect language that suggests child pornography or abuse. Make it make sense why a legal team has to run to court to protect children from people who are not only breaking the law, but also breaching the terms and conditions of the platforms they're using to hurt children. Why are those platforms not playing ball, and why does it take going to court to force them to … especially in the interest of protecting children? Perhaps they don't want the bad publicity, or perhaps they don't want to admit that things are as bad as they are. ALSO READ: Meta complies, shuts down Instagram accounts and WhatsApp channels posting sexual content of SA school children Here's a different suggestion. Nobody is going to argue against the existence of bad people. Bad people will always be around. I think that's something we can safely say society has accepted a long time ago. If we can admit that, then there's no reason why Meta can't say we want to keep bad people off our platforms. There's no reputational damage to any platform for accepting that sometimes they'll get some awful person as a user, but then they apply their terms of service, report the person, and now that person is locked up. We already know creeps are on every available platform. That's not going to be what causes the reputational damage in future. What will cause reputational damage is knowing that those platforms will try to put their own name before the safety of our children. Emma, Ben, Rorke. Take a number of bows, and thanks for putting in the effort to protect our kids, even when you shouldn't have to. NOW READ: Parents, use these Instagram tools to keep your teens safe online
Eyewitness News
18-07-2025
- Business
- Eyewitness News
After court order, Meta agrees to several steps to shut down child porn distribution on WhatsApp, Instagram in SA
CAPE TOWN - The Digital Law Company is celebrating a landmark judgement in the fight to protect South African children from digital harm. In its urgent application this week, the Johannesburg High Court has ordered US tech firm, Meta, to shut down a number of anonymous Instagram accounts and WhatsApp channels, distributing child pornography and sexually exploitative material involving South African school children. The company said that Meta had shut down the channels and accounts, but did not immediately comply with an order to disclose all identifying information of the account owners. ALSO READ: Social media law expert sounds alarm on child porn distribution on WhatsApp, Instagram in SA The Digital Law Company's Emma Sadleir said that Meta had now agreed, through a court-sanctioned joint consent order, to take several decisive steps. The company will permanently remove, as far as is technically feasible, all Instagram accounts and WhatsApp channels reported by the company, on behalf of the victims. It will also disclose subscriber information for more than 60 offending accounts across both platforms, enabling victims and their families to pursue justice through appropriate legal avenues. A direct two-year hotline between the Digital Law Company and Meta will also be established to fast-track urgent child protection matters. "I can tell you that we at the Digital Law Company are absolutely elated at the judgment handed down by the Johannesburg High Court today. We welcome this victory, we will be celebrating." Sadleir said it was exciting to see the court being brave enough to hand down a judgment against a multi-national tech giant. In response to a media enquiry by EWN earlier this week, Meta said it had zero tolerance for child sexual exploitation and was committed to ensuring the safety of all users on their platforms. Meta confirmed that the accounts it was able to identify had been shut down and they had submitted reports to the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children in line with applicable laws. The company further stated that it would continue to engage with law enforcement and respond to valid legal requests.
The Herald
18-07-2025
- The Herald
Meta and WhatsApp to hand over information of those behind child porn accounts
After a week of urgent litigation, the Johannesburg high court has ordered Meta, owner of Instagram and WhatsApp, to hand over — 'to the extent available' — the names, addresses, phone numbers and IP addresses of the people behind the profiles and WhatsApp channels posting graphic child pornography. The court also ordered Meta and WhatsApp to remove 12 WhatsApp channels and 58 Instagram accounts, insofar as it was technically feasible, and for two years, whenever similar content is reported to them, they must take action within 48 hours. The profiles and channels were posting 'graphic child pornography, devastating personal information, allegations of children being HIV positive — all the while identifying individuals and schools', said the Digital Law Company's (DLC) Emma Sadleir in court papers. An annexure to the court papers attached some of the content that had been uploaded on these profiles. It included: a video of what was claimed to be schoolchildren having sex in the toilets; posts of children's names and their schools, claiming they had STIs; and pornographic photos and videos of young girls.
