What does South Africa have in common with China‚ Russia and North Korea? “Poor human rights track records" and they are the “biggest practitioners of censorship”‚ the Democratic Alliance’s Phumzile van Damme suggested on Tuesday.That the “South African government’s representatives at the United Nations (UN) voted against a resolution that sought to promote and protect human rights on online platforms” meant it joined the ranks of the other countries mentioned.Van Damme said it was “disturbing but unsurprising‚ given the African National Congress-government’s penchant for censorship”. “Part of the resolution sought to condemn the intentional disruption of Internet access to the public‚” she explained.“The vote against this resolution speaks volumes about the ANC government’s ‘zero cares’ attitude about the public outcry against its ongoing programme of censorship.“So little does it care that it has unashamedly paraded its love for censorship on the international stage.” Van Damme said the UN vote “is at odds with our Bill of Rights”‚ but “very much in line with the Films and Publications Amendment Bill tabled in Parliament late last year”.“The bill‚ currently out for public comment‚ will give the Minister of Communications‚ Faith Muthambi‚ powers to impose fines and refer any ‘offenders’ to the National Prosecuting Authority for prosecution for the content of their posts on Facebook‚ Twitter and any other social media sites deemed to have fallen foul of the provisions in the bill‚” she said.“The DA intends on vigorously opposing this bill‚ and any other forms of censorship the ANC government intends on introducing.” – TMG Digital..