The decision by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) to no longer show “footage of people burning public institutions” trended on Twitter on Friday morning.While the social media discourse was dominated by retweets of chief operations officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng’s reasoning for his decision – that “continuing to promote” violent service delivery protests encourages copycat actions – it was widely criticised for curtailing expression.@AyandaAllieP news is news, and should not be 'filtered', it's not a movie, and you can't make news ideal.. That's just my view.
— ❤ Gcini❤ (@Miss_Gcini) May 27, 2016junkJay ‏@JuadiviveM: I was happy with the 90/10 local move‚ but #SABC restricting broadcasting is a sneaky So basically if its not being covered it hasn't happened? Propaganda much? #SABC— VKesa (@VKesa) May 27, 2016junk#IgotGod ‏@Tha_Nde_Ka: We are as upset about the burning of schools but not reporting? That's taking it too far #SABC Will SABC also stop reporting on protest action on TV involving those who destroy property. Or are we allowed to hear evil just not see it?
— Mbhazima Shilowa (@Enghumbhini) May 27, 2016junkSabata ‏@Sabattta: Filtering news? #Hlaudi & his handlers have learnt an awful lot from their apartheid state predecessor. #SABC #sabcnews Unauthentic ‏@Mary_JaneSA: There won't be a need to watch a channel that refuses to broadcast the realities of everyday South Africans. #SABCAthandiwe Saba ‏@Athi_Saba: This #SABC statement is beyond censorship. The national broadcaster cannot not be the people's eyes and ears on the ground. SABC’s cutting protest footage part of its mandate ‘to educate citizens’That “continuing to promote” violent service delivery protests “might encourage other communities to do the same” is the reason the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) will no longer show “footage of people burning public institutions”.In the statement‚ Motsoeneng said it was in keeping with the SABC’s mandate “to educate the citizens‚ and we therefore have taken this bold decision to show that violent protests are not necessary”.“It is regrettable that these actions are disrupting many lives and as a responsible public institution we will not assist these individuals to push their agenda that seeks media attention‚" the statement said.“We would like to encourage citizens to protest peacefully without destroying the very same institutions that are needed to restore their dignity.”The SABC said it is “cognisant of the fact that citizens have constitutional rights to protest and voice their concerns on various issues”‚ but maintained that destroying property was not the way to go about it.“We are not going to provide publicity to such actions that are destructive and regressive‚” a statement said.“The SABC would like to stress that we will continue to cover news without fear or favour. We will not cover people who are destroying public property.”The public broadcaster also made an “appeal to other South African broadcasters and the print media to stand in solidarity with the public broadcaster not to cover the violent protests that are on the rise”. ..