SANEF on how to use social media mindfully
The South African National Editor's Forum says the right to freedom of speech must always be exercised within the confines of the Constitution.
The Forum has been commenting following Mail and Guardian journalist Carien du Plessis's tweet yesterday in which she described people who had be attending the ANC's 104th birthday celebrations in Rustenburg this weekend as pantypreneurs and tenderpreneurs.
Sanef Chairperson Mpumelelo Mkhabela says du Plessis' post went beyond defensible speech under free speech limitations and was prejudicial particularly to women who'll be attending the festivities.
"It's possible for people to conduct themselves in such a way that they can be very robust when communicating their messages through Twitter, they can be very critical - sometimes harshly so. As long as you don't spread messages that may cause war, hatred and prejudice," he said.
The ANC, which has since banned du Plessis from covering the event, has indicated it will lay criminal charges against the journalist.
Mkhabela however believes banning her will not solve anything, saying the ANC can rise above this.
"The Constitution as we have it was born out of the ANC being able to speak to people that hated it, people who disagreed with it harshly and those who imprisoned ANC comrades. But the ANC was able to rise above that. That is why we have the culture that we have today," he said.
(File photo: Getty Images)