Child Safety Standards

MzansiShield has zero tolerance for child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSAE). This page sets out what we prohibit, how anyone can report a concern to us, what we do when we receive one, and who to contact. It applies to everything on MzansiShield: the public feed, replies, community groups, direct messages, live broadcasts, profiles and marketplace listings.

1. What is prohibited

The following are banned outright. There is no context in which they are permitted, and no warning before we act:

• Child sexual abuse material (CSAM), in any format, including drawn, animated or computer-generated depictions.
• Sexualising anyone under 18 in any way — imagery, text, comments or descriptions — whether or not the child is identifiable.
• Grooming or soliciting a child, or attempting to arrange sexual contact with one, including through our direct messages or inside a community group.
• Sextortion, or threatening to share a child's intimate images.
• Trafficking, advertising or arranging the exploitation of a child.
• Sharing a child's home address, school or live location in a way that places them at risk.
• Impersonating a child, or an adult using MzansiShield to seek contact with children.

A person under 18 is a child for the purposes of these standards, in line with South African law.

2. How to report a concern

Inside the app. Every surface that carries content people have posted has a Report control, and the reason list includes Child safety concern and Appears to be under 18:

• A post — the … menu on the post, then Report.
• A reply — the report icon on the reply.
• A person — open their profile, then "Report this person".
• A direct message — the conversation menu, then "Report this conversation".
• A live broadcast — the report control on the viewer.
• A community group — open the group, then "Report this group".

A report given for a child-safety reason is routed to a person immediately rather than waiting in a queue. You do not have to identify yourself to us in order to report, and we never tell the person you reported who reported them.

By email. Anyone can write to consulting@sysrely.com with CHILD SAFETY in the subject line — including people who do not use MzansiShield, and parents, guardians, schools and law-enforcement officers. No account is needed.

3. What we do when we receive a report

• We remove the content as soon as we become aware of it. We do not wait for a report to be corroborated before removing suspected CSAE material.
• We preserve the evidence — the content, the account, the device IP address recorded with the post, and the surrounding activity log — rather than deleting it along with the post, so that it is available to investigators.
• We terminate the account and block the person from creating another.
• We report it to the authorities. We report suspected child sexual abuse material and offences against children to the South African Police Service, and to the Film and Publication Board where the Films and Publications Act requires it. Section 54(1) of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act 32 of 2007 obliges any person with knowledge of a sexual offence against a child to report it to a police official, and we comply with it. We also report to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) CyberTipline where the material falls within its scope.
• We answer lawful requests from the SAPS and the courts for the material and records we have preserved.

There is no three-strikes process for child safety. A single confirmed breach of this section ends the account.

4. How we reduce the risk in the first place

• Photographs and voice notes are screened before publication by automated moderation services, and anything in the sensitive band is held for a human to review rather than published first and reviewed later.
• Under-18 accounts are restricted by default. Direct messages, buying and selling, and appearing in people search are switched off permanently, and images of crime, violence and injury are hidden. These restrictions are enforced on our servers, not in the app, so modifying the app does not remove them.
• A parent or guardian's permission is required before an under-18 account can be used, as POPIA sections 34 and 35 require.
• Age is declared, not verified. We say so plainly rather than implying a check we do not perform. A false declaration breaches our Terms, and account-based protections do not stop somebody who signs out — we do not claim otherwise.
• A child's SOS and live location reach only their guardian, their trusted circle and registered responders — never nearby strangers — and any location check is always visible on the child's own screen while it is happening.
• Anonymous posting is recorded privately. A report published without an account still carries a privately recorded device IP address, used solely for moderation and lawful requests. Anonymity from other users is not anonymity from an investigation.

5. Our child safety point of contact

This person is able to speak to our CSAE prevention practices, and is the contact for Google, law enforcement, and any regulator or child-protection organisation:

Name

Rotshidzwa Mamuthupi

Role

Founder and operator, MzansiShield

Email

consulting@sysrely.com

Organisation

SysRely, South Africa

Reports of a child in immediate danger should go to the SAPS on 10111, not to this address — we cannot respond at the speed an emergency needs.

6. Keeping this current

We review these standards at least once a year, and whenever we add a feature that changes how people can reach one another on MzansiShield. The date at the top of this page is the date of the last review.