Policy Watch SA created this site in the hope that it will be discovered by organisations and public interest groups concerned about the objectification of women and 'girls' by international AI text-to-image community art platforms. Having joined a popular platform in October 2024 expressly to create images for our social media alerts, we were dismayed by the prevalence of inappropriately sexualised 'girl' images finding their way into competitions/games with rules prohibiting 'mature' or NSFW entries. During the ensuing months, our complaints about this to platform support staff and other users fell largely on deaf ears. This may have been because of a general lack of awareness of the issues explored here, which include a tendency for adolescent girls and young women to self-objectify.  

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*Disclaimer: By providing examples of the way women are portrayed by AI text-to-image art generators and on community platforms providing access to the software, Policy Watch SA is simply drawing attention to apparently widespread concerns about the underpinning issues explored here. This should not be misinterpreted as condemnation of a specific software model, community platform or their users/members.

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In the context of domestic legislation, 'South Africa does not have laws or regulations that specifically govern AI. The current legislation, most notably the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), the Consumer Protection Act ... and the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, seek to regulate (only) certain aspects of AI use, particularly surrounding data protection, privacy, and consumer rights.' (Fluxmans) 

 

That said, given AI's ever-accelerating global adoption, 'South Africa stands at a pivotal moment'. Hopefully, the process of developing an appropriate regulatory framework won't overlook the importance of 'balancing the promise of technological innovation with the need to address ethical, legal and socio-economic challenges'.  

 

Perhaps the issues explored here will assist in some way ...