Singapore's Websites Call for Saturday Protest
More than 160 Singaporean websites are calling for concerned citizens to assemble Saturday in Hong Lim Park, the site of the city's Speaker's Corner, to protest stringent new licensing requirements imposed by the Media Development Authority (MDA) on bloggers and other websites last week.
The bloggers closed down their sites Thursday for 24 hours to protest implementation of the new laws.
The bloggers have launched a campaign using the Twitter hashtag #FreeMyInternet to spread the word about the campaign. Online commentators have expressed concern over the breadth of the definition of "online news sites," warning that it could sweep in blogs that discuss a wide range of issues, and websites that enable users to discuss online content.
The new regulations, promulgated at the behest of Communications and Information Minister Yaacob Ibrahim, have been condemned internationally by the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders. Today the New York-based Human Rights Watch joined in condemning the regulations, saying that "The Singaporean government should withdraw an onerous new licensing requirement for online news sites. The new rules will further discourage independent commentary and reporting on the Internet."
The Singapore government usually doesn't back away from its implementation of regulations, no matter how stiff the protest.
"Singapore's new licensing requirement casts a chill over the city-state's robust and free-wheeling online communities, and will clearly limit Singaporeans' access to independent media," said Cynthia Wong, senior Internet researcher at Human Rights Watch. "Websites will be forced into the role of private censors on behalf of the government."
Singapore's mainstream media have long been cowed into submission by the government through libel lawsuits, contempt of court cases and outright intimidation - the latter according to a book, "OB Markers: My Straits Times Story, written by Cheong Yip Seng, the former editor in chief of Singapore Press Holdings, the parent company of the broadsheet daily Straits Times.
Although the Media Development Authority said the new law was only meant to bring Internet sites into compliance with existing press regulations, Singapore's tame courts have been used to bludgeon the press into not reporting at all on the country. The Internet sites can be expected to face the same fate.
Many international news outlets including the International Herald Tribune, the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, the now-defunct Far Eastern Economic Review and AsiaWeek, Time Magazine and others have been sued successfully by the family of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his father, Lee Kuan Yew. All have reacted by shying away from critical reporting on the country.
According to the Human Rights Watch report: "In response to criticism, the Media Development Authority clarified on its Facebook page on May 31 that, ?An individual publishing views on current affairs and trends on his/her personal website or blog does not amount to news reporting.' However, in a separate statement, the Authority undermined this claim by asserting that, "If they [blogs] take on the nature of news sites, we will take a closer look and evaluate them accordingly."
The Media Development Authority also asserted that the framework is "not an attempt to influence the editorial slant of news sites" and that it will only step in "when complaints are raised to [their] attention, and [they] assess that the content is in breach of the content guidelines and merits action by the website owner."
"Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights activists in Singapore have also criticized media censorship laws because they create a skewed portrayal of LGBT individuals in local, mainstream media," Human Rights Watch said. "Given that Singapore still criminalizes male same-sex relations, instituting a 24-hour takedown requirement for "material that advocates homosexuality or lesbianism" on popular websites will only exacerbate the problem, Human Rights Watch said.
"Singapore is placing its status as a world-class financial center at clear risk by extending its record of draconian media censorship to the digital world," Human Rights Watch's Wong said. "The blogging community is of the opinion that such regulations will limit public discourse and undermine Singapore's civil liberties, and calls for the removal of such regulations which are completely incompatible with First World standards."
Websites and Blogs participating in the Blackout on 6 June 2013 [Link]:
1. theonlinecitizen.com
2. www.tremeritus.com
3. publichouse.sg
4. www.leongszehian.com
5. visakanv.com/blog
6. andrewlohhp.wordpress.com
7. excultum.wordpress.com
8. www.sgpolitics.net
9. www.hemanchong.com
10. asingaporeanson.blogspot.com
11. teengirlandpolitics.blogspot.sg
12. gaysgconfessions.tumblr.com
13. mitsueki.wordpress.com
14. sgvoize.wordpress.com
15. www.thehsharez.com
16. rubbisheatrubbishgrow.wordpress.com
17. fatyandao.blogspot.com
18. spuddings.net
19. www.gangasudhan.com/blog
20. blog.dk.sg
21. www.youarebetteroffted.blogspot.com
22. pragmaticstartup.wordpress.com
23. jeannettechongaruldoss.blogspot.sg
24. www.post-museum.org
25. akikonomu.blogspot.com
26. singaporearmchaircritic.wordpress.com
27. www.substation.org
28. tofucheesecake.tumblr.com
29. www.raviphilemon.net
30. non-elite.blogspot.sg
31. rachelzeng.wordpress.com
32. singaporeantideathpenaltycampaign.wordpress.com
33. www.voiddecker.com
34. remembering1987.wordpress.com
35. fn8org.wordpress.com
36. GazaliAhmad.com
37. livemylifewild.blogspot.com
38. www.chinesealbumart.com
39. www.patnotebook.com
40. jacob69.wordpress.com
41. littlemskaypoh.wordpress.com
42. diminishthefool.wordpress.com
43. inhisblood.blogspot.com
44. blogfather.sg
45. patrickboehler.com
46. whymustlikethat.wordpress.com
47. singabloodypore.blogspot.com
48. sharikqah.livejournal.com
49. singabloodypore.wordpress.com
50. singaporerebel.blogspot.com
51. blog.myhotcaffeine.com
52. www.sixdegrees.asia
53. www.deoinkcafe.wordpress.com
54. speakspokewritewrote.wordpress.com
55. kkyz14.blogspot.com
56. mhisham.org
57. newasiarepublic.com
58. justiceforseafarers.blogspot.sg
59. SingaporeanLifeStyle.com
60. greysteppenwolf.blogspot.sg
61. huihui247.blogspot.com
62. blog.s0ulless.net
63. jentrifiedcitizen.wordpress.com
64. isaiahlim.wordpress.com
65. www.youngupstarts.com
66. www.cykhoo.com
67. www.dendrobium.org
68. www.kissmyculture.com
69. watcheatdoandtell.blogspot.sg
70. orchids3d.blogspot.sg
71. orchidphotos.blogspot.sg
72. cherpopiah.blogspot.com
73. miak.livejournal.com
74. www.sindie.sg
75. doulosyap.wordpress.com
76. www.igloomelts.com
77. opencontours.com
78. expatbostonians.com
79. www.callantham.org
80. thenicktay.blogspot.sg
81. www.ding-neng.com
82. myrighttolove.com
83. www.justspree.com
84. Journalism.SG
85. blinkingbrink.wordpress.com
86. simpleboylife.wordpress.com
87. maesaisingaporean.blogspot.sg
88. www.theaaronloy.com
89. www.icedwater.com
90. ayummysliceoflife.wordpress.com
91. siewkumhong.blogspot.sg
92. nogamenotalk.com
93. www.workfairsingapore.wordpress.com
94. lastboy.blogspot.com
95. article14.blogspot.com
96. pinkdot.sg/
97. www.sayoni.com
98. patrick-ong.com
99. whatamashup.blogspot.com
100. www.lianainfilms.com
101. superfab303.wordpress.com
102. 23amber.blogspot.com
103. arrarity.blogspot.sg
104. www.mashupcollective.com
105. jojotora.WordPress.com
106. mediafordemocracy.WordPress.com
107. seelanpalay.blogspot.sg
108. yawningbread.wordpress.com
109. deathkimono.tumblr.com
110. boojunfeng.com
111. www.callantham.org
112. cultureanddemocracy.blogspot.sg
113. andyxianwong.wordpress.com
114. thehearttruths.com
115. justiceforseafarers.blogspot.sg
116. theonlineedition.blogspot.sg
117. 23amber.blogspot.sg
118. cerealboxstudios.com
119. atpeacewithfreedom.blogspot.sg
120. yamizi.blogspot.sg
121. nizamosaurus.wordpress.com
122. www.walkonmusic.net
123. singaporealternatives.blogspot.com
124. techielobang.com/blog
125. www.decade.sg
126. thedeadcockroach.blogspot.sg
127. david-shiyang.com
128. jaggae.blogspot.sg
129. theteenagememe.webs.com
130. thinkhappiness.blogspot.sg
131. www.lacunachasm.tumblr.com
132. ramblecamp.wordpress.com
133. blog.endlessinside.com
134. mizeem.blogspot.sg
135. sgreview.weebly.com
136. transitioning.org
137. ladibird.com
138. ngiam.net
139. stngiam.wordpress.com
140. xinguozhi.wordpress.com
141. cultureanddemocracy.blogspot.sg
142. jimtkm.com
143. adamkerr.blogspot.sg
144. stupid-genius.blogspot.sg
145. microkrill.tumblr.com
146. www.rynaque.sg
147. www.blowingwind.org
148. singaporelifetimes.blogspot.sg
149. jackccc28.wordpress.com
150. freethepress.herokuapp.com
151. seelanpalay.blogspot.sg
152. languidfakulty.tumblr.com
153. josiahfongawit.blogspot.sg
154. anakwatansingapura.blogspot.sg
155. grumpysis.blogspot.sg
156. pls-revert.tumblr.com
157. writersong.wordpress.com
158. notathoughtexperiment.tumblr.com
159. chongleong.blogspot.sg
160. www.hanneng.sg
161. byang.info
162. jacksonteolifestory.blogspot.sg