South Africa's Film and Publication Board (FPB) marked Safer Internet Day on 9 February with the launch of the Web Rangers SA project in partnership with Google and Media Monitoring Africa at McAuley House High School Johannesburg.

Janine Raftopoulos, Manager of Communications and Public Education at the FPB says the regulator is looking to work closely with other industry players throughout 2016 in national cyber safety educational and awareness campaigns in order to fulfil its mandate.

"It's important we work with industry on sustainable projects that have measurable impact. With more and more content being distributed online, we need to ensure young people are equipped to use the online space optimally, and that they are also aware of the importance of being responsible online," Raftopoulos said.

The Web Ranges SA project is an effort to create a safe platform for young people to come up with ideas and initiatives to encourage their peers to practise safer internet usage.

Raftopoulos also gave ITWeb Africa an update on the contentious Draft Online Regulation Policy which has been championed by the FPB.

She says the FPB received and considered over 200 submissions as a result of the public engagement process on the proposed online regulation policy which has now been circulated to parliament and cabinet before it is finalised. "Over the years and as it stands, the legislation is not platform specific, and the FPB's compliance and classification activities have been focused more on physical platforms and less on the online space(Internet, mobile), leaving the gate open, for children being exposed to potentially harmful and unclassified content and online predators. The policy is meant to address such challenges."

Raftopoulos says the online regulation policy advocates for a co-regulatory approach to content regulation online because some industry players already have systems in place to ensure the online space is as safe as possible.

The FPB says it is already in discussions with other stakeholders to support the Web Rangers SA project.