SINGAPORE — About 1,000 Singaporeans joined a weekend protest against a new government policy that requires some news Web sites to obtain licenses and possibly to remove offensive content.
The policy, which took effect this month, has set off criticism that the authorities in the city-state are trying to enforce online media censorship. Newspapers and television have long been tightly supervised in Singapore, and officials maintain that the Web policy is not meant to muzzle freedom of expression.
Sites that report regularly on Singapore news and attract at least 50,000 visitors a month are now required to obtain annual licenses. They must remove any content considered objectionable by the government within 24 hours of notification.
A crowd that gathered at the Speakers’ Corner free speech area of a Singapore park on Saturday listened to bloggers and other speakers denounce the regulation. One man held a poster that read, “Internet censorship: Worst idea ever,” while many booed when the names of government officials were spoken.
“This is definitely an attempt at censorship, and it’s quite plain to see that this regulation is not in the interests of anyone but the government,” said Ravi Philemon, a blogger.
The rally’s chief organizer, Howard Lee, said the demonstrators hoped to draw attention to a petition that has more than 4,000 signatures and demands the withdrawal of the policy.
The rule affects 10 Web sites so far, including Yahoo News in Singapore. To receive a license, a Web site now must post a “performance bond” of 50,000 Singapore dollars, or $39,400.
Singapore’s communications and information minister, Yaacob Ibrahim, has defended the policy, assuring the online community that personal blogs and many news commentary sites will not be affected. The sites that need to obtain licenses will “have to conform to certain minimum standards as far as we are concerned, and we think it’s not as onerous as what’s been made up by some people online,” Mr. Yaacob said last week.
Yahoo’s Singapore unit has said it is abiding by the new requirement. The company’s country manager, Alan Soon, added in a statement that it was important that “regulations and guidelines remain meaningful and do not become a tool that restricts freedom of expression and genuine debate.”
The Media Development Authority in Singapore has said it will impose financial penalties or suspend the licenses of Web sites that violate the conditions.
About 150 operators of blogs and other Web sites in Singapore participated in a 24-hour display of dissent last week by replacing their pages with black screens featuring the slogan “#FreeMyInternet.”
Human Rights Watch said Friday that the rule “casts a chill over the city-state’s robust and free-wheeling online communities, and will clearly limit Singaporeans’ access to independent media.”
Singapore Clamps Down on News Web Sites
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