Davis, Tara2024-06-052024-06-052022-10-30Davis, Tara. (2024). The role of design houses [Master’s dissertation PhD thesis, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg]. Wiredspace. https://hdl.handle.net/10539/38598https://hdl.handle.net/10539/38598Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Laws by Coursework and Research Report at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022Social media platforms are an important space for the exercise of freedom of expression. However, their operation poses a concomitant risk to the right. The right is both protected by and undermined by content moderation - a mechanism that enables platforms to determine the bounds of permissible speech, and what expression to highlight or suppress. This has significant implications for the right to freedom of expression but has been left largely to the private sector to regulate. This raises important questions about the role of the state in protecting and enabling the right to freedom of expression online. In this paper I discuss the need for content moderation, how it operates and the ways in which it undermines the right to freedom of expression in South Africa. I further explore the role of the state and analyses South Africa’s current regulatory response. In so doing, I contend that South Africa’s approach does not adequately respect, protect and promote the right to freedom of expressionen© 2024 University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.Social mediaFreedom of expressionContent moderationUCTDSDG-9: Industry, innovation and infrastructureDissertationUniversity of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg