South Africans face R50,000 fine or jail time for these WhatsApp messages

• South Africans face R50,000 fine or jail time for sharing hate speech on WhatsApp, including messages they did not create themselves.
• The ruling is based on the Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Act, which will make hate speech deemed to incite violence a criminal offence, and is related to a recent case involving a municipal councillor who forwarded discriminatory messages on WhatsApp.
• The municipal councillor, Sibongile Tsoleli, has appealed the ruling, but the court has reaffirmed that the messages qualify as harassment, and the case highlights the implications of hate speech laws in South Africa.