Censorship in Singapore
Encyclopedia
Censorship in Singapore
mainly targets sexual, political, racial and religious issues, as defined by out-of-bounds markers
.
(MDA) approves publications, issues arts entertainment licences and enforces the Free-to-air (FTA) TV Programme Code, Cable TV Programme Code, TV Advertising Code, Radio Programme Code and Radio Advertising Code through financial penalties. The MDA's decisions may be appealed to the Broadcast, Publications and Arts Appeal Committee (BPAA) and the Films Appeal Committee (FAC).
The Censorship Review Committee (CRC) meets every ten years to "review and update censorship objectives and principles to meet the long-term interests of our society". The CRC was most recently reconvened in 2009 and made some 80 recommendations the following year, most of which were accepted.
argues that censorship of violence and sexual themes is necessary as the Singaporean populace is deeply conservative
, and censorship of political, racial and religious content is necessary to avoid upsetting the balance of Singapore's delicate multi-racial society. K Bhavani, spokesperson of the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts
, has stated:
Commentators such as Alex Au
, on the other hand, argue that the true intention is to buttress the continued political dominance of the People's Action Party
, and to do so partly by promoting the Government's social engineering
efforts.
Movie censorship has historically been strict, although the introduction of the "R-21" rating now allows most major Hollywood features to be shown uncut in Singapore. The rating system was first introduced in 1991 with the R(A) rating to allow those aged 18 years and above to watch more adult type films. However, due to public objection, the rating system was revised and the age limit was lifted from 18 to 21 years old.
Released films are presented to the Board of Film Censors (BFC) which classifies the films under different ratings for different groups of audiences:
Note: Any outright denigration of race or religion, matters that threaten national interest, or depictions of hardcore pornographic, offensive or deviant sexual activities are banned. Royston Tan
's award-winning 15
, a graphic depiction of Singapore's underbelly, was only allowed after over 20 scenes were cut.
The categories G and PG are not restricted. NC16, M18 and R21 rated movies require age proof.
In February 2008, the Academy Awards
acceptance speech for the short documentary Freeheld
was censored by Mediacorp in the rebroadcast of the program due to the filmmakers' mention of equal rights for same sex couples.
Movies that are classified as R21 are excluded from video releases and television advertisements. However, as recommended by the latest CRC, R21 video-on-demand is now allowed on pay TV.
As of September 2010, cinemas located in downtown Singapore could continue to screen R21-rated movies such as Hollywood's gay biopic Milk
which won Sean Penn the 2009 Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of a homosexual politician. However, a ban on showing R21 movies remains in suburban cinemas.
Exceptions are, however, made for films "made solely for the purpose of reporting of current events", or informing or educating persons on the procedures and polling times of elections or referendums.
In 2001, the short documentary
called A Vision of Persistence on opposition politician J. B. Jeyaretnam was also banned for being a "party political film". The makers of the documentary, all lecturers at the Ngee Ann Polytechnic, later submitted written apologies and withdrew the documentary from being screened at the 2001 Singapore International Film Festival
in April, having been told they could be charged in court. Another short documentary called Singapore Rebel by Martyn See
, which documented Singapore Democratic Party
leader Dr Chee Soon Juan
's acts of civil disobedience, was banned from the 2005 Singapore International Film Festival
on the same grounds and See is being investigated for possible violations of the Films Act.
Channel NewsAsia
's five-part documentary series on Singapore's PAP ministers in 2005 were not considered a party political film. The government response was that the programme was part of current affairs
and thus does not contravene the Films Act .
Since they do not concern the politics of Singapore, films that call out political beliefs of other countries, for example Michael Moore
's Fahrenheit 911, are allowed.
Since March 2009, the Films Act has been amended to allow party political films as long as they were deemed factual and objective by a consultative committee. Some months later, this committee lifted the ban on Singapore Rebel.
, fearing that it referenced marijuana. Janet Jackson
's albums Velvet Rope and All For You were also banned due to homosexual and sexually explicit themes that the BPAA found "not acceptable to our society".
announced that an official video games classification system will be in effect on 28 April 2008. Under the system, video games that contain nudity, coarse language, drug use and violence, will be given a rating sticker similar to those found on video media in Singapore with either one of the two ratings:
Examples: Mass Effect 2
, Assassin's Creed II
, Resident Evil 5
, Left 4 Dead
and Hitman: Blood Money
Examples: Kingpin: Life of Crime
, Yakuza 3
, Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures
, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2
, Grand Theft Auto III
and Manhunt 2
Games that do not fall into any of these categories and are approved for general audiences do not require these stickers and games containing offensive material (such as racial or religious denigration) are still banned. The purchase of games with the M18 rating legally require retailers to conduct age checks, while "Age Advisory" games are not required to have mandatory age checks.
Previously, the Media Development Authority and by extension, the Singapore government has also banned several video games. For example (as of November 2007) the video game The Darkness
(due to presence of graphic violence and swear words) and more recently Mass Effect
from Bioware
due to the in game option of a homosexual romance if the player chooses to play as a female. Mass Effect was later unbanned with the implementation of the aforementioned games ratings system that was still in development then. However, similar games with graphic violence such as Prince of Persia and Gears of War (players can perform decapitation moves) or other Bioware games like Neverwinter Nights
and Jade Empire
(which both allow the possibility of male-male and female-female romances) have not been banned or censored.
(MDA), which has the right to ban any it views as "contrary to the public interest". Appeals against MDA's decisions can be made to the Broadcast, Publications and Arts Appeal Committee (BPAA).
In 1994, performance artist Josef Ng protested the arrest and caning of 12 homosexual men by caning slabs of tofu, then turning his back to the audience and snipping off some pubic hair. He was charged with committing an obscene act and banned from performing in public, and his theatre group's grants were cancelled.
In 2005, the MDA withheld the licence for the play Human Lefts unless some scenes were edited and all references to the death penalty removed. The play was originally written about the hanging of Shanmugam Murugesu
and was to have been staged one day after the controversial execution of Australian national Nguyen Tuong Van.
In August 2006, a play Smegma was banned by Media Development Authority
which said that: "the play portrays Muslims in a negative light."
In May 2010, the National Arts Council has cut the annual grant given to local theatre company Wild Rice. It will get $170,000 this year, down from $190,000 the year before. It is the lowest annual grant that the company has received from the council. Artistic director Ivan Heng says the council told him funding was cut because its productions promoted alternative lifestyles, were critical of government policies and satirised political leaders. In March 2011, NAC increased to $1.92 million, a 25% hike, the amount to be given to 16 arts companies, including Wild Rice, under its one-year Major Grant scheme.
, all daily newspapers including the flagship Straits Times are printed by Singapore Press Holdings
, whose management shareholders are appointed by the government in accordance with the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act of 1974. While current shareholding structure does not imply direct governmental control on media content, their active presence promotes self-censorship
amongst journalists. In 2008, Reporters without Borders
ranked Singapore as 144th out of 173 surveyed countries in terms of freedom of the press. The Singapore Government said it is not ashamed of its low rank for press freedom because it has achieved top ratings for economic freedom and prosperity. Instead of subscribing to the Western press model, it believes that a non-adversarial press can report accurately and objectively. A recent Gallup poll found that 69% of Singaporeans trusted their media.
On 30 June 2006, blogger mrbrown
wrote an article, titled "TODAY: S'poreans are fed, up with progress!", for his weekly opinion column in Today
newspaper concerning the rising income gap and costs of living in Singapore. Three days later, on 3 July, an official from the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts
published a response letter on the same newspaper calling mrbrown a "partisan player" whose views "distort the truth". On 6 July, the newspaper suspended his column. Fellow blogger Mr Miyagi subsequently resigned from his column for Today. This was followed by Today newspaper chief executive and editor-in-chief Mano Sabnani's resignation in November 2006. The action fuelled anger over the Internet due to the perceived heavy-handedness action taken by the government over criticisms.
Foreign publications that carry articles the government considers slanderous, including The Economist
and the Far Eastern Economic Review
(FEER), have been subjected to defamation suits and/or had their circulations "gazetted" (restricted). The sale of Malaysian newspapers in Singapore is prohibited; a similar ban on the sale of newspapers from Singapore applies in Malaysia.
In August 2006, the government announced a tightening of rules on foreign publications previously exempt from the media code. Newsweek
, Time
, the Financial Times
, the Far Eastern Economic Review
and the International Herald Tribune
will be required to appoint a publisher's representative in Singapore who could be sued, and to pay a security deposit of S$
200,000. The move comes after FEER published an interview with Singaporean opposition leader Chee Soon Juan
, who claimed that leading members of the Singaporean government had "skeletons in their closets". On 28 September 2006, FEER was banned for failing to comply with conditions imposed under the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act.
Pornography
is strictly prohibited in Singapore; this encompasses magazines such as Playboy
or Penthouse
. However, magazines which are deemed to contain "mature content" such as Cosmopolitan Magazine are free to be distributed at all stores with a "Parental Warning/not suitable for the young" label on its cover.
In December 2008, a Singaporean couple was charged with sedition
for distributing the Chick tracts The Little Bride and Who Is Allah?, said to "to promote feelings of ill-will and hostility between Christians and Muslims in Singapore".
controls all free-to-air terrestrial local TV channels licensed to broadcast in Singapore, as well as 14 radio channels. Pay TV channels are available on cable TV, but many programs were banned. For example, the popular HBO series Sex and the City
was not permitted to be shown in Singapore until 2004, after its original run had ended. Private ownership of satellite
dishes is illegal, though international TV broadcasts (such as CNN
, BBC
, etc.) are available on StarHub
's cable TV and SingTel IPTV service mio TV
.
The Media Development Authority
, through its Programme Advisory Committees for each of the four official languages, constantly monitors and provides feedback on broadcast content. Permissible content on Singaporean TV is minutely regulated by the MDA's Free-to-Air Television Programme Code.
Part 5 of the Code states that TV programs "should not in any way promote, justify or glamorise" homosexuality
in any form. MediaCorp has been fined repeatedly for violations of this, most recently in April 2008 for showing an episode of Home and Design that depicted a gay couple. Consequently, MediaCorp has censored any content that could be interpreted as pro-gay, including Dustin Lance Black
's acceptance speech at the 2008 Academy Awards
.
Part 7 of the Code states that "Gratuitous and
graphic portrayals of violence, such as cutting up body parts and spurting of
blood, should be avoided.", and that programs "should not glamorise or in any way promote persons ... who engage in any criminal activity". Local productions thus typically avoid depicting the local police or military personal as victims of violence, resulting in predictable storylines considered "ethically correct". The police, for example, are increasingly shown to rarely succumb to graphic violence or other unfortunate events, and even if they do, are typically shown to prevail ultimately, as depicted in police dramas Triple Nine
and Heartlanders
.
Part 12.3 of the Code states that use of the local English-based creole
Singlish
"should not be encouraged and can only be
permitted in interviews, where the interviewee speaks only Singlish." The popular Singlish sitcom Phua Chu Kang
was singled out in a National Day rally speech. The Programmes Advisory Committee for English TV and Radio Programmes also singled out the use of Singlish in local sitcoms in its 2005 annual report, saying they "contain excessive Singlish" and "this should be avoided as it could give the wrong impression, especially among the young, that Singlish is the standard of spoken English in Singapore"
Part 12.4 of the Code states that "All Chinese programmes, except operas or other programmes specifically approved by the Authority, must be in Mandarin." The Cantonese
used by popular TV serials from Hong Kong
had to be dubbed into Mandarin, while local television series or programmes may not use dialects. Similarly, local newspapers were not allowed to carry listings for Malaysia's TV3
, which showed programmes in Cantonese. However, Hong Kong's TVB, broadcasting in Cantonese, is now available on cable.
The latest annual report by the Advisory Committee for Chinese Programmes, for instance, chastised dramas such as Beyond the aXis of Truth 2 (police triller on the supernatural) and Wing of Desire (contemporary family-feud drama) for graphic violence, while giving credit to A Promise For Tomorrow
, A New Life, A Child's Hope
, and so on, for the "positive messages" transmitted. Hence, locally-produced dramas in recent decades are overwhelmingly family-based, with action-thrillers generally avoided.
As of September 2010, Singapore partially relaxed television broadcast guidelines allowing cable operators to screen movies containing nude scenes or explicit violence.
(MDA), which blocks a "symbolic" number of websites containing "mass impact objectionable" material, including Playboy
and YouPorn
. In addition, the Ministry of Education, Singapore blocks access to pornographic and similar objectionable Internet sites on its proxy servers. Nevertheless, MDA adopts a "light-touch" approach in regulating the Internet, with minimal Internet filtering.
In 2005, the MDA banned a gay website and fined another website following complaints that the sites contained offensive content. The banned website is said to have promoted promiscuous sexual behaviour and recruited underage boys for sex and nude photography.
Government agencies have been known to use or threaten to use litigation against bloggers and other Internet content providers. The first instance of such activity was against Sintercom
in July 2001 when the founder, Dr Tan Chong Kee was asked to register the website under the nascent Singapore Broadcast Authority Act (now Media Development Authority
). Dr Tan chose to shutdown Sintercom due to concerns over the ambiguity of the Act. In April 2005, a blogger, Chen Jiahao, then a graduate student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
, was made to apologise and shut down his blog
containing criticisms on government agency A*STAR, after its Chairman Philip Yeo
threatened to sue for defamation. In September 2005, 3 people were arrested and charged under the Sedition Act
for posting racist comments on the Internet. Two were sentenced to imprisonment
. Later, the Teachers' Union announced that it is offering legal assistance to teachers who want to take legal action against students who defame them on their blog
s, after five students from Saint Andrew's Junior College
were suspended for three days for allegedly "flaming" two teachers and a vice-principal on their blogs.
In the last few years, the government has taken a much tougher stand on Internet-related matters, including censorship. Proposed amendments to the Penal Code intend to hold Internet users liable for "causing public mischief", and give the authorities broader powers in curtailing freedom of speech.
In September 2008, US citizen Gopalan Nair was sentenced to 3 months imprisonment for insulting a public servant after he accused a Singapore judge of "prostituting herself" in his blog.
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
mainly targets sexual, political, racial and religious issues, as defined by out-of-bounds markers
OB marker
An OB marker, short for "out of bounds marker", is a term used in Singapore to denote what topics are permissible for public discussion. The full form of the word is rarely used....
.
Implementation
The Media Development AuthorityMedia Development Authority
The Media Development Authority is a statutory board of the Singapore Government, under the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts .-History:...
(MDA) approves publications, issues arts entertainment licences and enforces the Free-to-air (FTA) TV Programme Code, Cable TV Programme Code, TV Advertising Code, Radio Programme Code and Radio Advertising Code through financial penalties. The MDA's decisions may be appealed to the Broadcast, Publications and Arts Appeal Committee (BPAA) and the Films Appeal Committee (FAC).
The Censorship Review Committee (CRC) meets every ten years to "review and update censorship objectives and principles to meet the long-term interests of our society". The CRC was most recently reconvened in 2009 and made some 80 recommendations the following year, most of which were accepted.
Justification
The Government of SingaporeSingapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
argues that censorship of violence and sexual themes is necessary as the Singaporean populace is deeply conservative
Social conservatism
Social Conservatism is primarily a political, and usually morally influenced, ideology that focuses on the preservation of what are seen as traditional values. Social conservatism is a form of authoritarianism often associated with the position that the federal government should have a greater role...
, and censorship of political, racial and religious content is necessary to avoid upsetting the balance of Singapore's delicate multi-racial society. K Bhavani, spokesperson of the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts
Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts
The Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts is a ministry of the Government of Singapore...
, has stated:
- In relaxing our censorship policies, the Government needs to take into account the concerns and values of the majority of Singaporeans. Our people are still largely conservative. Hence, the Government needs to balance between providing greater space for free expression and the values upheld by the majority.
Commentators such as Alex Au
Alex Au
Alex Au Waipang, also known by his Internet nom de plume as Yawning Bread, is part of the Singapore gay equality movement.He is the author of a website, where he provides analyses of Singaporean politics, culture, gay issues and miscellaneous subjects.-Biography:Au, English-educated and of...
, on the other hand, argue that the true intention is to buttress the continued political dominance of the People's Action Party
People's Action Party
The People's Action Party is the leading political party in Singapore. It has been the city-state's ruling political party since 1959....
, and to do so partly by promoting the Government's social engineering
Social engineering (political science)
Social engineering is a discipline in political science that refers to efforts to influence popular attitudes and social behaviors on a large scale, whether by governments or private groups. In the political arena, the counterpart of social engineering is political engineering.For various reasons,...
efforts.
Films and videos
The importing, making, distributing or exhibiting of films in Singapore is governed by the Films Act of 1981.Movie censorship has historically been strict, although the introduction of the "R-21" rating now allows most major Hollywood features to be shown uncut in Singapore. The rating system was first introduced in 1991 with the R(A) rating to allow those aged 18 years and above to watch more adult type films. However, due to public objection, the rating system was revised and the age limit was lifted from 18 to 21 years old.
Released films are presented to the Board of Film Censors (BFC) which classifies the films under different ratings for different groups of audiences:
- G (General) - Everyone is admitted.
- PG (Parental Guidance) - Everyone is admitted with children accompanied by an adult. Contains very mild violence.
- PG13 (Parental Guidance - 13 And Above) - Recommended by the CRC in 2009, the PG13 rating is given to films with content deemed unsuitable for young children but for which a NC16 rating is not warranted.
- NC16 (No Children Under 16) - Nobody under age 16 is admitted. Contains partial nudity and mild violence. (This classification was introduced in 1998)
- M18 (Mature 18) - Nobody under age 18 is admitted. Contains nudity, moderate violence and may offend religious people. (This classification was introduced in 2004)
- R21 (Restricted 21) - Nobody under age 21 is admitted. Contains nudity with/without sexual context, strong violence and may offend religious people. (This classification was previously known as R (A)).
- Banned - Contains issues that are likely to cause controversy in Singapore.
Note: Any outright denigration of race or religion, matters that threaten national interest, or depictions of hardcore pornographic, offensive or deviant sexual activities are banned. Royston Tan
Royston Tan
Royston Tan is a Singaporean filmmaker.Tan is a graduate from Temasek Polytechnic, where he took a course in Visual Communication. He first came into prominence through his short films: Sons , Hock Hiap Leong , 48 on AIDS , Mother and 15...
's award-winning 15
15 (film)
15: The Movie, also known simply as 15, is a 2003 Singaporean film about teenage gangsters in the Singapore suburbs. Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Royston Tan, the film is an expanded version of Tan's 2002 award-winning short film, also titled 15...
, a graphic depiction of Singapore's underbelly, was only allowed after over 20 scenes were cut.
The categories G and PG are not restricted. NC16, M18 and R21 rated movies require age proof.
In February 2008, the Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
acceptance speech for the short documentary Freeheld
Freeheld
Freeheld is a 2007 documentary film directed by Cynthia Wade, and produced by Wade, Matthew Syrett and Vanessa Roth. It chronicles the story of Laurel Hester in her fight against the Ocean County, New Jersey Board of Chosen Freeholders to give her earned pension benefits to her partner, Stacie. On...
was censored by Mediacorp in the rebroadcast of the program due to the filmmakers' mention of equal rights for same sex couples.
Movies that are classified as R21 are excluded from video releases and television advertisements. However, as recommended by the latest CRC, R21 video-on-demand is now allowed on pay TV.
As of September 2010, cinemas located in downtown Singapore could continue to screen R21-rated movies such as Hollywood's gay biopic Milk
Milk (film)
Milk is a 2008 American biographical film on the life of gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk, who was the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors...
which won Sean Penn the 2009 Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of a homosexual politician. However, a ban on showing R21 movies remains in suburban cinemas.
Party political films
The controversial Section 33 of the Films Act bans of the making, distribution and exhibition of "party political films", at pain of a fine not exceeding $100,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years. The Act further defines a "party political film" as any film or video- (a) which is an advertisement made by or on behalf of any political party in Singapore or any body whose objects relate wholly or mainly to politics in Singapore, or any branch of such party or body; or
- (b) which is made by any person and directed towards any political end in Singapore
Exceptions are, however, made for films "made solely for the purpose of reporting of current events", or informing or educating persons on the procedures and polling times of elections or referendums.
In 2001, the short documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
called A Vision of Persistence on opposition politician J. B. Jeyaretnam was also banned for being a "party political film". The makers of the documentary, all lecturers at the Ngee Ann Polytechnic, later submitted written apologies and withdrew the documentary from being screened at the 2001 Singapore International Film Festival
Singapore International Film Festival
The Singapore International Film Festival was launched in 1987. The festival is an annual film event, held around April/May each year, and screens about 300 films from over 45 countries...
in April, having been told they could be charged in court. Another short documentary called Singapore Rebel by Martyn See
Martyn See
Martyn See is a Singaporean filmmaker and the current Executive Secretary of Singaporeans for Democracy.-Life and Career:Martyn See has a lengthy career of being a feature editor for films, some of which include Mee Pok Man That One No Enough I Do I Do Singapore Gaga Just Follow Law , Money...
, which documented Singapore Democratic Party
Singapore Democratic Party
The Singapore Democratic Party is an opposition political party in Singapore.The party was founded in 1980 by Chiam See Tong, who as Secretary-General became the party's first Member of Parliament in 1984 when he was elected as MP for Potong Pasir...
leader Dr Chee Soon Juan
Chee Soon Juan
Chee Soon Juan, PhD is a politician and political activist from Singapore. He is currently the leader of the opposition Singapore Democratic Party ....
's acts of civil disobedience, was banned from the 2005 Singapore International Film Festival
Singapore International Film Festival
The Singapore International Film Festival was launched in 1987. The festival is an annual film event, held around April/May each year, and screens about 300 films from over 45 countries...
on the same grounds and See is being investigated for possible violations of the Films Act.
Channel NewsAsia
Channel NewsAsia
Channel NewsAsia is an English language pan-Asian news network based in Singapore and owned by MediaCorp. Started on 1 March 1999 based in Singapore by Television Corporation of Singapore, it was launched internationally on 12 February 2001 as the international broadcasting arm of Channel...
's five-part documentary series on Singapore's PAP ministers in 2005 were not considered a party political film. The government response was that the programme was part of current affairs
Current affairs (news format)
Current Affairs is a genre of broadcast journalism where the emphasis is on detailed analysis and discussion of news stories that have recently occurred or are ongoing at the time of broadcast....
and thus does not contravene the Films Act .
Since they do not concern the politics of Singapore, films that call out political beliefs of other countries, for example Michael Moore
Michael Moore
Michael Francis Moore is an American filmmaker, author, social critic and activist. He is the director and producer of Fahrenheit 9/11, which is the highest-grossing documentary of all time. His films Bowling for Columbine and Sicko also place in the top ten highest-grossing documentaries...
's Fahrenheit 911, are allowed.
Since March 2009, the Films Act has been amended to allow party political films as long as they were deemed factual and objective by a consultative committee. Some months later, this committee lifted the ban on Singapore Rebel.
Music
In 1963, Singapore banned the hit song Puff, the Magic DragonPuff, the Magic Dragon
"Puff, the Magic Dragon" is a song written by Leonard Lipton and Peter Yarrow, and made popular by Yarrow's group Peter, Paul and Mary in a 1963 recording. The song achieved great popularity and has entered American and British pop culture.-Lyrics:...
, fearing that it referenced marijuana. Janet Jackson
Janet Jackson
Janet Damita Jo Jackson is an American recording artist and actress. Known for a series of sonically innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows, television and film roles, she has been a prominent figure in popular culture for over 25 years...
's albums Velvet Rope and All For You were also banned due to homosexual and sexually explicit themes that the BPAA found "not acceptable to our society".
Video games
On 14 April 2008, the Media Development AuthorityMedia Development Authority
The Media Development Authority is a statutory board of the Singapore Government, under the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts .-History:...
announced that an official video games classification system will be in effect on 28 April 2008. Under the system, video games that contain nudity, coarse language, drug use and violence, will be given a rating sticker similar to those found on video media in Singapore with either one of the two ratings:
- ADV (Age Advisory) - Anyone can buy a video game with this rating, but it's not recommended to children. Contains mature themes, some violence with little or no blood, mild drug use, implied sexual activity, partial nudity and infrequent explicit language.
Examples: Mass Effect 2
Mass Effect 2
Mass Effect 2 is an action role-playing game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The game was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 on January 26, 2010 and for PlayStation 3 on January 18, 2011...
, Assassin's Creed II
Assassin's Creed II
Assassin's Creed II is a historical third-person action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It is the second video game installment of the Assassin's Creed series, and is a sequel to the 2007 video...
, Resident Evil 5
Resident Evil 5
Resident Evil 5, known in Japan as , is a survival horror third-person shooter video game developed and published by Capcom. The game is the seventh installment in the Resident Evil survival horror series, and was released on March 5, 2009 in Japan and on March 13, 2009 in North America and Europe...
, Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead is a cooperative first-person shooter video game. It was developed by Turtle Rock Studios, which was purchased by Valve Corporation during development. The game uses Valve's proprietary Source engine, and is available for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and Mac OS X...
and Hitman: Blood Money
Hitman: Blood Money
Hitman: Blood Money is a stealth game developed by IO Interactive and published by Eidos Interactive. It is the fourth entry in the Hitman game series....
- M18 (Mature 18) - Nobody under age 18 can buy a video game with this rating. Contains adult and/or offensive themes, realistic depictions of violence with/without blood, strong drug use, nudity with/without sexual context and frequent explicit language.
Examples: Kingpin: Life of Crime
Kingpin: Life of Crime
Kingpin: Life of Crime is a first-person shooter developed by Xatrix Entertainment and published by Interplay Entertainment in June 1999. The game begins with the player character wounded and beaten up by the Kingpin's henchmen, and the story follows his thirst for revenge...
, Yakuza 3
Yakuza 3
Yakuza 3 is a PlayStation 3 video game, originally released in Japan as , the sequel to Yakuza 2 and the fourth installment in the Yakuza series. It is developed by Sega Japan's CS1 Team and published by Sega...
, Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures
Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures
Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures is a fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by a Norwegian computer video game developer company, Funcom, and is published by Eidos Interactive for the PC platform...
, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2
Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2
Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, also known as Ninja Gaiden Σ 2, is an action-adventure game developed by Team Ninja for the PlayStation 3. It is an enhanced port of Ninja Gaiden II.-Plot:...
, Grand Theft Auto III
Grand Theft Auto III
Grand Theft Auto III is a 2001 open world action computer and video game developed by DMA Design in the United Kingdom, and published by Rockstar Games. It is the first 3D title in the Grand Theft Auto series. It was released in October 2001 for the PlayStation 2, May 2002 for Microsoft Windows,...
and Manhunt 2
Manhunt 2
Manhunt 2 is an action/adventure video game developed by Rockstar Games and the sequel to 2003's Manhunt. The game was released in North America for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and Wii on October 29, 2007....
Games that do not fall into any of these categories and are approved for general audiences do not require these stickers and games containing offensive material (such as racial or religious denigration) are still banned. The purchase of games with the M18 rating legally require retailers to conduct age checks, while "Age Advisory" games are not required to have mandatory age checks.
Previously, the Media Development Authority and by extension, the Singapore government has also banned several video games. For example (as of November 2007) the video game The Darkness
The Darkness (video game)
The Darkness is a first-person shooter video game, developed by Starbreeze Studios and published by 2K Games for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. It was released on June 25, 2007 in North America and on June 20, 2007 in Europe. The video game is based on the comic book of the same title...
(due to presence of graphic violence and swear words) and more recently Mass Effect
Mass Effect
Mass Effect is an action role-playing game developed by BioWare for the Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows by Demiurge Studios. The Xbox 360 version was released worldwide in November 2007 published by Microsoft Game Studios...
from Bioware
BioWare
BioWare is a Canadian video game developer founded in February 1995 by newly graduated medical doctors Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk, and Augustine Yip. BioWare is currently owned by American company Electronic Arts...
due to the in game option of a homosexual romance if the player chooses to play as a female. Mass Effect was later unbanned with the implementation of the aforementioned games ratings system that was still in development then. However, similar games with graphic violence such as Prince of Persia and Gears of War (players can perform decapitation moves) or other Bioware games like Neverwinter Nights
Neverwinter Nights
Neverwinter Nights , produced by BioWare and published by Infogrames , is a third-person perspective computer role-playing game that is based on third edition Dungeons & Dragons and Forgotten Realms rules. It was originally to be published by Interplay Entertainment, but the publisher's financial...
and Jade Empire
Jade Empire
Jade Empire is an action role-playing game developed by Canadian developer BioWare and first published in 2005 by Microsoft Game Studios as a worldwide release for the Xbox. The later, two-disc Limited Edition contained extra content...
(which both allow the possibility of male-male and female-female romances) have not been banned or censored.
Performing arts
The scripts of all plays to be performed in Singapore must be vetted in advance by the Media Development AuthorityMedia Development Authority
The Media Development Authority is a statutory board of the Singapore Government, under the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts .-History:...
(MDA), which has the right to ban any it views as "contrary to the public interest". Appeals against MDA's decisions can be made to the Broadcast, Publications and Arts Appeal Committee (BPAA).
In 1994, performance artist Josef Ng protested the arrest and caning of 12 homosexual men by caning slabs of tofu, then turning his back to the audience and snipping off some pubic hair. He was charged with committing an obscene act and banned from performing in public, and his theatre group's grants were cancelled.
In 2005, the MDA withheld the licence for the play Human Lefts unless some scenes were edited and all references to the death penalty removed. The play was originally written about the hanging of Shanmugam Murugesu
Shanmugam Murugesu
Shanmugam "Sam" Murugesu was a Tamil Singaporean executed for smuggling 1.03 kg of cannabis into Singapore from Malaysia...
and was to have been staged one day after the controversial execution of Australian national Nguyen Tuong Van.
In August 2006, a play Smegma was banned by Media Development Authority
Media Development Authority
The Media Development Authority is a statutory board of the Singapore Government, under the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts .-History:...
which said that: "the play portrays Muslims in a negative light."
In May 2010, the National Arts Council has cut the annual grant given to local theatre company Wild Rice. It will get $170,000 this year, down from $190,000 the year before. It is the lowest annual grant that the company has received from the council. Artistic director Ivan Heng says the council told him funding was cut because its productions promoted alternative lifestyles, were critical of government policies and satirised political leaders. In March 2011, NAC increased to $1.92 million, a 25% hike, the amount to be given to 16 arts companies, including Wild Rice, under its one-year Major Grant scheme.
Local press
With the sole exception of MediaCorp's daily freesheet TodayToday (Singapore newspaper)
Today is a free English-language compact in Singapore published by government-owned MediaCorp print media arm. It is distributed from Monday to Sunday....
, all daily newspapers including the flagship Straits Times are printed by Singapore Press Holdings
Singapore Press Holdings
Singapore Press Holdings Limited is a media organisation in Singapore with businesses in print, Internet and new media, television and radio, outdoor media, and property. SPH has over 4,000 employees, including a team of approximately 1,000 journalists, including correspondents operating around...
, whose management shareholders are appointed by the government in accordance with the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act of 1974. While current shareholding structure does not imply direct governmental control on media content, their active presence promotes self-censorship
Self-censorship
Self-censorship is the act of censoring or classifying one's own work , out of fear of, or deference to, the sensibilities of others, without overt pressure from any specific party or institution of authority...
amongst journalists. In 2008, Reporters without Borders
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders is a France-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985, by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008...
ranked Singapore as 144th out of 173 surveyed countries in terms of freedom of the press. The Singapore Government said it is not ashamed of its low rank for press freedom because it has achieved top ratings for economic freedom and prosperity. Instead of subscribing to the Western press model, it believes that a non-adversarial press can report accurately and objectively. A recent Gallup poll found that 69% of Singaporeans trusted their media.
On 30 June 2006, blogger mrbrown
Mrbrown
Lee Kin Mun , aka mrbrown, is a Singaporean blogger well known for his social and political commentary amidst Singapore's tight media restrictions. Affectionately known by many as Singapore's "Blogfather", mrbrown is one of the more notable bloggers in the Singaporean blogosphere. His podcast...
wrote an article, titled "TODAY: S'poreans are fed, up with progress!", for his weekly opinion column in Today
Today (Singapore newspaper)
Today is a free English-language compact in Singapore published by government-owned MediaCorp print media arm. It is distributed from Monday to Sunday....
newspaper concerning the rising income gap and costs of living in Singapore. Three days later, on 3 July, an official from the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts
Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts
The Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts is a ministry of the Government of Singapore...
published a response letter on the same newspaper calling mrbrown a "partisan player" whose views "distort the truth". On 6 July, the newspaper suspended his column. Fellow blogger Mr Miyagi subsequently resigned from his column for Today. This was followed by Today newspaper chief executive and editor-in-chief Mano Sabnani's resignation in November 2006. The action fuelled anger over the Internet due to the perceived heavy-handedness action taken by the government over criticisms.
Foreign publications
The MDA requires importers to "ensure that the publications/ audio materials brought in for distribution do not feature content which could be considered objectionable on moral, racial or religious grounds, or deemed detrimental to Singapore’s national interests". According to the MDA, more than 2 million publications and 300,000 audio materials are imported into Singapore each year under the Registered Importers Scheme.Foreign publications that carry articles the government considers slanderous, including The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
and the Far Eastern Economic Review
Far Eastern Economic Review
The Far Eastern Economic Review was an English language Asian news magazine started in 1946. It printed its final issue in December 2009. The Hong Kong-based business magazine was originally published weekly...
(FEER), have been subjected to defamation suits and/or had their circulations "gazetted" (restricted). The sale of Malaysian newspapers in Singapore is prohibited; a similar ban on the sale of newspapers from Singapore applies in Malaysia.
In August 2006, the government announced a tightening of rules on foreign publications previously exempt from the media code. Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
, Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
, the Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
, the Far Eastern Economic Review
Far Eastern Economic Review
The Far Eastern Economic Review was an English language Asian news magazine started in 1946. It printed its final issue in December 2009. The Hong Kong-based business magazine was originally published weekly...
and the International Herald Tribune
International Herald Tribune
The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. It combines the resources of its own correspondents with those of The New York Times and is printed at 38 sites throughout the world, for sale in more than 160 countries and territories...
will be required to appoint a publisher's representative in Singapore who could be sued, and to pay a security deposit of S$
Singapore dollar
The Singapore dollar or Dollar is the official currency of Singapore. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively S$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...
200,000. The move comes after FEER published an interview with Singaporean opposition leader Chee Soon Juan
Chee Soon Juan
Chee Soon Juan, PhD is a politician and political activist from Singapore. He is currently the leader of the opposition Singapore Democratic Party ....
, who claimed that leading members of the Singaporean government had "skeletons in their closets". On 28 September 2006, FEER was banned for failing to comply with conditions imposed under the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act.
Pornography
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
is strictly prohibited in Singapore; this encompasses magazines such as Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
or Penthouse
Penthouse (magazine)
Penthouse, a men's magazine founded by Bob Guccione, combines urban lifestyle articles and softcore pornographic pictorials that, in the 1990s, evolved into hardcore. Penthouse is owned by FriendFinder Network. formerly known as General Media, Inc. whose parent company was Penthouse International...
. However, magazines which are deemed to contain "mature content" such as Cosmopolitan Magazine are free to be distributed at all stores with a "Parental Warning/not suitable for the young" label on its cover.
In December 2008, a Singaporean couple was charged with sedition
Sedition
In law, sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent to lawful authority. Sedition may include any...
for distributing the Chick tracts The Little Bride and Who Is Allah?, said to "to promote feelings of ill-will and hostility between Christians and Muslims in Singapore".
Television
The state-owned MediaCorpMediaCorp
Media Corporation of Singapore, better known as MediaCorp, is a group of commercial media companies in Singapore, with business interests in television and radio broadcasting, interactive media, and, to a lesser extent, print publishing and film-making....
controls all free-to-air terrestrial local TV channels licensed to broadcast in Singapore, as well as 14 radio channels. Pay TV channels are available on cable TV, but many programs were banned. For example, the popular HBO series Sex and the City
Sex and the City
Sex and the City is an American television comedy-drama series created by Darren Star and produced by HBO. Broadcast from 1998 until 2004, the original run of the show had a total of ninety-four episodes...
was not permitted to be shown in Singapore until 2004, after its original run had ended. Private ownership of satellite
Satellite television
Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...
dishes is illegal, though international TV broadcasts (such as CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, etc.) are available on StarHub
StarHub
StarHub Limited is a full-fledged telecommunications company providing a full range of services over mobile, internet and fixed platforms in Singapore...
's cable TV and SingTel IPTV service mio TV
Mio TV
mio TV is a 24-hours pay-TV service, introduced by SingTel. It is transmitted through the company's SingNet broadband network via an IPTV service and uses Microsoft Mediaroom as its end to end software platform. It is a service that will allow multimedia content - including broadcast channels and...
.
The Media Development Authority
Media Development Authority
The Media Development Authority is a statutory board of the Singapore Government, under the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts .-History:...
, through its Programme Advisory Committees for each of the four official languages, constantly monitors and provides feedback on broadcast content. Permissible content on Singaporean TV is minutely regulated by the MDA's Free-to-Air Television Programme Code.
Part 5 of the Code states that TV programs "should not in any way promote, justify or glamorise" homosexuality
Homosexuality in Singapore
There are no statistics on how many gay people there are in Singapore or what percentage of the population they constitute. Section 377A of the Penal Code criminalizes "gross indecency" between men which includes consensual, private, adult homosexual acts...
in any form. MediaCorp has been fined repeatedly for violations of this, most recently in April 2008 for showing an episode of Home and Design that depicted a gay couple. Consequently, MediaCorp has censored any content that could be interpreted as pro-gay, including Dustin Lance Black
Dustin Lance Black
Dustin Lance Black is an American screenwriter, director, film and television producer, and LGBT rights activist. He has won two Writers Guild of America Awards for his work on the television series Big Love and an Academy Award for the 2008 film Milk.-Early life:Black was born in Sacramento,...
's acceptance speech at the 2008 Academy Awards
80th Academy Awards
The 80th Academy Awards ceremony honored the best films in 2007 and was broadcast from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California on ABC beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST/8:30 p.m. EST, February 24, 2008 . During the ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented Academy Awards in 24...
.
Part 7 of the Code states that "Gratuitous and
graphic portrayals of violence, such as cutting up body parts and spurting of
blood, should be avoided.", and that programs "should not glamorise or in any way promote persons ... who engage in any criminal activity". Local productions thus typically avoid depicting the local police or military personal as victims of violence, resulting in predictable storylines considered "ethically correct". The police, for example, are increasingly shown to rarely succumb to graphic violence or other unfortunate events, and even if they do, are typically shown to prevail ultimately, as depicted in police dramas Triple Nine
Triple Nine
For the Triple Nine Society, see this pageTriple Nine is an English language television police procedural telecast on what was then the Television Corporation of Singapore's Channel 5 from 1995 to 1999...
and Heartlanders
Heartlanders
Heartlanders is an English language television drama telecast on MediaCorp TV Channel 5. Based on the encounters of two officers of the Singapore Police Force. The first season aired on 5 July 2002, and has since another three seasons have aired, with the last season being shown from 12 July 2005...
.
Part 12.3 of the Code states that use of the local English-based creole
Creole language
A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable natural language developed from the mixing of parent languages; creoles differ from pidgins in that they have been nativized by children as their primary language, making them have features of natural languages that are normally missing from...
Singlish
Singlish
Colloquial Singaporean English, also known as Singlish, is an English-based creole language spoken in Singapore.Singlish is commonly regarded with low prestige in Singapore. The Singaporean government and many Singaporeans alike heavily discourage the use of Singlish in favour of Standard English...
"should not be encouraged and can only be
permitted in interviews, where the interviewee speaks only Singlish." The popular Singlish sitcom Phua Chu Kang
Phua Chu Kang
Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd, also known as PCK Pte Ltd or Phua Chu Kang for short , was a Singaporean sitcom on MediaCorp TV Channel 5. The show debuted in Singapore in 1997. A sequel, Phua Chu Kang Sdn...
was singled out in a National Day rally speech. The Programmes Advisory Committee for English TV and Radio Programmes also singled out the use of Singlish in local sitcoms in its 2005 annual report, saying they "contain excessive Singlish" and "this should be avoided as it could give the wrong impression, especially among the young, that Singlish is the standard of spoken English in Singapore"
Part 12.4 of the Code states that "All Chinese programmes, except operas or other programmes specifically approved by the Authority, must be in Mandarin." The Cantonese
Standard Cantonese
Cantonese, or Standard Cantonese, is a language that originated in the vicinity of Canton in southern China, and is often regarded as the prestige dialect of Yue Chinese....
used by popular TV serials from Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
had to be dubbed into Mandarin, while local television series or programmes may not use dialects. Similarly, local newspapers were not allowed to carry listings for Malaysia's TV3
TV3 (Malaysia)
Sistem Televisyen Malaysia Berhad or TV3 began broadcasting on 1 June 1984 as Malaysia’s first commercial television station. It is part of Media Prima Berhad group of companies. It now transmits opened broadcasting business private 24-hours a day, 7 days a week since 1 January 2010...
, which showed programmes in Cantonese. However, Hong Kong's TVB, broadcasting in Cantonese, is now available on cable.
The latest annual report by the Advisory Committee for Chinese Programmes, for instance, chastised dramas such as Beyond the aXis of Truth 2 (police triller on the supernatural) and Wing of Desire (contemporary family-feud drama) for graphic violence, while giving credit to A Promise For Tomorrow
A Promise For Tomorrow
A Promise For Tomorrow is a Mediacorp TV Channel 8 drama series telecast in 2005 in Singapore.The show starred Qi Yuwu, Rui En, Ix Shen, Huang Wenyong, Chen Xiuhuan and Mark Lee.The theme song of this show is called Zhi Zu sung by Mayday....
, A New Life, A Child's Hope
A Child's Hope
A Child's Hope is a MediaCorp TV Channel 8 Chinese drama which stars Tay Ping Hui, Phyllis Quek and Huang Biren.-Cast:*Huang Biren*Tay Ping Hui*Phyllis Quek*Yvonne Lim*Florence Tan*Dasmond Koh*Chen Shucheng*Hong Huifang...
, and so on, for the "positive messages" transmitted. Hence, locally-produced dramas in recent decades are overwhelmingly family-based, with action-thrillers generally avoided.
As of September 2010, Singapore partially relaxed television broadcast guidelines allowing cable operators to screen movies containing nude scenes or explicit violence.
Internet
Internet services provided by the three major Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are subject to regulation by the Media Development AuthorityMedia Development Authority
The Media Development Authority is a statutory board of the Singapore Government, under the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts .-History:...
(MDA), which blocks a "symbolic" number of websites containing "mass impact objectionable" material, including Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
and YouPorn
YouPorn
YouPorn is a free pornographic video sharing website. Since starting in August 2006, it has become the most popular pornographic website. In November 2007, it was reported to be the largest free pornographic website on the Internet...
. In addition, the Ministry of Education, Singapore blocks access to pornographic and similar objectionable Internet sites on its proxy servers. Nevertheless, MDA adopts a "light-touch" approach in regulating the Internet, with minimal Internet filtering.
In 2005, the MDA banned a gay website and fined another website following complaints that the sites contained offensive content. The banned website is said to have promoted promiscuous sexual behaviour and recruited underage boys for sex and nude photography.
Government agencies have been known to use or threaten to use litigation against bloggers and other Internet content providers. The first instance of such activity was against Sintercom
Sintercom
Sintercom was an Internet community launched by Dr Tan Chong Kee in 1994 with the objective of providing a platform for free flowing discussion on various national issues much akin to soc.culture.singapore in USENET where he was active.-SBA incident:On 5 July 2001, before the general election, Dr...
in July 2001 when the founder, Dr Tan Chong Kee was asked to register the website under the nascent Singapore Broadcast Authority Act (now Media Development Authority
Media Development Authority
The Media Development Authority is a statutory board of the Singapore Government, under the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts .-History:...
). Dr Tan chose to shutdown Sintercom due to concerns over the ambiguity of the Act. In April 2005, a blogger, Chen Jiahao, then a graduate student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
, was made to apologise and shut down his blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
containing criticisms on government agency A*STAR, after its Chairman Philip Yeo
Philip Yeo
Philip Yeo Liat Kok is the Chairman of both SPRING Singapore and Singbridge International Investments. He was formerly the Special Adviser for Economic Development in the Prime Minister's Office from April 2007 to August 2011. Until 2007, he was the chairman of A*STAR, a government agency in...
threatened to sue for defamation. In September 2005, 3 people were arrested and charged under the Sedition Act
Sedition Act (Singapore)
The Sedition Act is in Chapter 290 of the Statutes of Singapore. It was last revised in 1985.In September 2005, the Sedition Act was first used on individuals when three men, including a teenager, were charged for making seditious and inflammatory racist comments on the Internet.-Seditious...
for posting racist comments on the Internet. Two were sentenced to imprisonment
Imprisonment
Imprisonment is a legal term.The book Termes de la Ley contains the following definition:This passage was approved by Atkin and Duke LJJ in Meering v Grahame White Aviation Co....
. Later, the Teachers' Union announced that it is offering legal assistance to teachers who want to take legal action against students who defame them on their blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
s, after five students from Saint Andrew's Junior College
Saint Andrew's Junior College
Saint Andrew's Junior College is a junior college in Singapore, offering a two-year course for pre-university students leading up to GCE 'A' Level examinations....
were suspended for three days for allegedly "flaming" two teachers and a vice-principal on their blogs.
In the last few years, the government has taken a much tougher stand on Internet-related matters, including censorship. Proposed amendments to the Penal Code intend to hold Internet users liable for "causing public mischief", and give the authorities broader powers in curtailing freedom of speech.
In September 2008, US citizen Gopalan Nair was sentenced to 3 months imprisonment for insulting a public servant after he accused a Singapore judge of "prostituting herself" in his blog.
See also
- Public demonstrations in SingaporePublic demonstrations in SingaporePublic demonstrations are rare in Singapore due to laws that make it illegal to hold cause-related events without a valid licence from the authorities...
- Human rights in SingaporeHuman rights in SingaporeAccording to U.S. Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, there have been no reports of human rights abuses by security forces in Singapore. The Singapore government maintains effective control over all security activities, and generally respects the human rights of its...
- OB markerOB markerAn OB marker, short for "out of bounds marker", is a term used in Singapore to denote what topics are permissible for public discussion. The full form of the word is rarely used....
Others
- Terry Johal, "Controlling the Internet: The use of legislation and its effectiveness in Singapore (pdf file)", Proceedings, 15th Biennial Conference of the Asian Studies Association of Australia, Canberra, 2004.
- Gary Rodan, "The Internet and Political Control in Singapore (pdf file)" Political Science Quarterly 113 (Spring 1998)
External links
- Media Development Authority
- Censorship in Singapore - IFEXInternational Freedom of Expression ExchangeThe International Freedom of Expression eXchange , founded in 1992, is a global network of around 90 non-governmental organisations that promotes and defends the right to freedom of expression....
- Undated Centre Street Broadcast in which Martyn See and others discuss the film Singapore Rebel
- The 3 tiers of censorship in Singapore, a review of censorship laws and practices. (5 November 2009)