MXiT Cracks down on cyber criminals

Once again MXiT is in the news but this time, they’re coming out hard and strong with their initiative to “crack down” on abuse.  Of the 15 million South African subscribers, they say 1% are “degenerate” and abuse the service, sending explicit or offensive material.

MXiT has decided to take a “zero tolerance” approach and will ban these users without warning.  They do not monitor private conversations between friends but will be monitoring all public chat room conversations.

Herman Heunis CEO of MXiT (Image from IWeek)

CEO and founder, Herman Heunis is actively involved with other cyber crime prevention initiatives and has been very vocal in recent media explaining, “ “Until very recently, we had great difficulty in identifying and tracking these degenerates, but – with new developments – we are now in a situation where they leave a definite electronic footprint. This makes it possible to clean up the user base and get rid of people who are “not wanted on our platform”.

I think that it is great when a social media platform takes a stance such as this, but with any technology or communication system, there is always a danger that you may encounter someone with bad motives.  As a mother of two boys, I take the stance that I monitor very strictly what they are allowed to see online. They surf the web under my supervision and I censor what they may and may not view.  This does mean that I need to understand the technology and take the time to sit with them while we research “Box jellyfish” or whatever their latest interest.  As they get older, I understand that this could become more difficult but the understanding is that I make the technology available to my children under very tight controls.  I would never allow them to walk into a strip club or other “unsavoury” location so why allow them free access on the Internet?

When it comes to MXiT, the users determine the value of the technology and 99% of people use it for the fun, affordable means of communication for which it was developed.  (See my post “MXiT: Angel or Demon“). Technology companies often do all they possibly can to protect their users, and I applaud that, however I believe that the ultimate responsibility lies with the parents to make sure that their children are aware of the dangers and know how to protect themselves online.