Internet censorship in Singapore is carried out by the

Infocomm Media Development Authority The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) is a statutory board under the Singapore Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI). History Following the passing of the Info-communications Media Development Authority Bill in Parliame ...

(IMDA). Internet services provided by the three major

Internet service provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...

s (ISPs) are subject to regulation by the MDA, which requires blocking of a symbolic number of websites containing "mass impact objectionable" material, including

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. 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. K ...

YouPorn YouPorn is a free pornographic video sharing website and one of the 100 most accessed websites in the world. Since launching in August 2006, it grew to become one of the most popular pornographic website on the internet, and, in November 2007 ...

and

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. The civil service, tertiary institutions and

Institute of Technical Education The Institute of Technical Education (ITE) is a post-secondary education institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education in Singapore. Established by the Ministry of Education, it was formerly known as Vocational ...

has its own jurisdiction to block websites displaying pornography, information about drugs and online piracy.

History

In 1996, the Singapore government's

Singapore Broadcasting Authority The Media Development Authority (abbreviation: MDA) was a statutory board of the Singapore Government, under the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI). History MDA was formed on 1 January 2003 by the merger of Singapore Broadcasting ...

(SBA) began monitoring Internet activity and content. Under their guidelines, all ISPs are licensed by the SBA and therefore are subject to the Internet Code of Practice that outlined prohibited online material. Prohibited material was any content or activity that could be seen as "objectionable on the grounds of public interest, public morality, public order, public security, national harmony, or is otherwise prohibited by applicable Singapore laws." Political and racially sensitive content is frequently censored in Singapore, resulting in a

chilling effect In a legal context, a chilling effect is the inhibition or discouragement of the legitimate exercise of natural and legal rights by the threat of legal sanction. A chilling effect may be caused by legal actions such as the passing of a law, the ...

on bloggers and academics active on social media. The early to mid-2000s saw the rising popularity of satire websites such as

TalkingCock.com TalkingCock.com is a Singaporean satirical and humour website. The website features various articles and jokes spoofing Singapore current affairs, which occasionally pokes fun of world happenings. "''Talking cock''", which describes the act of en ...

and blogs like YawningBread and

mrbrown Lee Kin Mun (), better known as mrbrown, is a Singaporean blogger best known for publishing social and political commentary amid Singapore's tight media restrictions. His podcast attracts some 20,000 downloads per day. In 2007, Lee was the o ...

, which offered alternative perspectives on socio-political issues from government-friendly mainstream media. These websites are often under scrutiny and potential targets of censorship.

Cases

In July 2001, Dr Tan Chong Kee, the founder of

Sintercom Sintercom (Singapore Internet Community) 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 ...

, was asked to register the website under the nascent Singapore ''Broadcast Authority Act'' (now

Media Development Authority The Media Development Authority (abbreviation: MDA) was a statutory board of the Singapore Government, under the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI). History MDA was formed on 1 January 2003 by the merger of Singapore Broadcasting ...

). Dr Tan chose to shut down Sintercom due to concerns over the ambiguity of the Act. In July 2006, mrbrown's weekly column in the newspaper ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 A ...

'' was terminated after he highlighted the immediate price hikes after the 2006 Singapore general elections. Prime Minister

Lee Hsien Loong Lee Hsien Loong (; born 10 February 1952) is a Singaporean politician and former brigadier-general who has been serving as Prime Minister of Singapore and Secretary-General of the People's Action Party since 2004. He has been the Member of Par ...

said mrbrown's column had "hit out wildly at the government and in a very mocking and dismissive sort of tone" and

Minister for Information, Communication and the Arts The Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI; ms, Kementerian Penerangan dan Pembangunan Digital; zh, 数码发展及新闻部; ta, தகவல், மின்னிலக்க மேம்பாட்டு அமைச்� ...

sent a letter saying his article could undermine national stability, and that it was "not the role of journalists or newspapers in Singapore to champion issues, or campaign for or against the government". In 2012, blogger

Alex Au Alex Au Waipang, () also known by his Internet pseudonym as Yawning Bread, is an advocate of LGBT rights in Singapore. Au is a blogger and activist who provides analyses of Singaporean politics, culture, gay issues and miscellaneous subjects on h ...

was made by the Attorney General's Chambers and prime minister

to remove his blog posts and apologise several times for various issues, including his questioning of the judicial sentencing of doctor

Woffles Wu Dr. Woffles Wu Tze Liang (; born 1960), , is a Singaporean plastic surgeon.scandalising the judiciary in 2015 for suggesting judicial partiality towards two constitutional challenges against the Singapore law criminalising sex between men in his blog posts. In 2015, a video made by the

Singapore Democratic Party The Singapore Democratic Party (abbreviation: SDP) is a politcal party in Singapore. The party was founded on 6 August 1980 by Chiam See Tong. During the 1991 general election, Ling How Doong and Cheo Chai Chen won Bukit Gombak SMC and Nee ...

(SDP), titled "Pappy Washing Powder", was deemed a party political film and thus prohibited under the Films Act. On 16 September 2021, IMDA instigated the closure of

The Online Citizen The Online Citizen is a blogging platform based in Taiwan. Founded in December 2006 by Andrew Loh and Remy Choo Zheng Xi in Singapore, it is known for its political activism. It describes itself as a group of advocacy journalists who report on to ...

(TOC) by claiming that TOC provided insufficient fundings breakdown, particularly that they did not receive foreign funding. This is despite TOC's position that "Our site has never received any foreign funding."

Legislation

Sedition Act

The Sedition Act inherited from the colonial era is also used to charge internet users deemed to have promoted feelings of ill-will and hostility between different races or classes of the population of Singapore. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the law was necessary to preserve Singapore's racial and religious harmony as ethnic tensions in South-east Asia may give rise to Islamic terrorism. There is continuing debate on whether the use of the Act will have a chilling effect on public debate on the Internet. A 2012 survey from Blackbox Research showed that 75% of the respondents felt that there was no need for legal action against racist online commenters, with 59% saying a formal warning should suffice for a first-time offender, and 16% indicating that it was sufficient to publicly shame them online. In September 2005, three people were arrested and charged under the '' Sedition Act'' for posting

racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

comments on the Internet. It was the first time the Act was invoked in Singapore for a decade and the first use by the government against individuals. In 2012, an assistant director at

National Trades Union Congress The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), also known as the Singapore National Trades Union Congress (SNTUC) internationally, is the sole national trade union centre in Singapore. NTUC is at the heart of the Labour Movement which comprises 59 ...

membership department was fired for racist comments on Facebook. In a separate incident, a Chinese student was fined for his abusive comments towards Singaporeans.
indiatimes.com, 2 January 2013. In the same year, Singaporean cartoonist Leslie Chew was charged with sedition for alleging official discrimination against the Malay population, on his Facebook page Demon-cratic Singapore. He was charged again for

contempt of court Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the cour ...

for several cartoons questioning Singapore courts for their differential treatment, based on status of nationality and political affiliation of the defendants. The '' Sedition Act'' carries a maximum penalty of three years imprisonment and a fine of S$5,000 (US$3,939) if found guilty. However the government later withdrew the charge. Chew states that he "was interrogated for over 30 hours and placed under island arrest for 3 months and (had) to report for bail extension 6 times during that period". In other incidents, teenagers and expatriates were arrested by the

Singapore police The Singapore Police Force (SPF) is the national and principal law enforcement agency responsible for the prevention of crime and law enforcement in the Republic of Singapore. It is the country's lead agency against organised crime; human, weapo ...

over derogatory, offensive, abusive or threatening comments posted on social media. Academic

Cherian George Cherian George is a Singaporean academic, currently a professor of Media Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University. Early life and education Cherian George studied at Hwa Chong Junior College for his pre-university education. He then graduated fr ...

noted that in most cases, state action to prosecute individuals was instigated by complaints from members of the public, and the offensive content were spread further by those reporting the offence. He argued that internet users should be able to partake in open debates and opinion leaders can make a collective stand against ideas contrary to Singaporean ethos, without the need for government to intervene and censor or punish.

Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA)

In 2017, the Singaporean government said it was considering laws targeting online misinformation and

fake news website Fake news websites (also referred to as hoax news websites) are websites on the Internet that deliberately publish fake news— hoaxes, propaganda, and disinformation purporting to be real news—often using social media to drive web traffic and ...

s. In May 2019, Parliament approved the

Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act The Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act 2019, commonly abbreviated as POFMA and known colloquially as Fake News Law, is a statute of the Parliament of Singapore that enables authorities to tackle the spread of fake news or false ...

(POFMA), in which ministers are given powers to stop certain falsehoods from spreading through media and internet platforms. For example, articles can be declared to contain falsehoods and the publisher directed to insert a link to the ministry's reply and 'corrections' - alongside the said article. Readers will still have access to the original article. Only in serious cases will offending articles be required to be taken down immediately. Individuals and organisations can appeal POFMA directives to the minister issuing them and then the courts, if their appeals are rejected.

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

raised concerns that the law could hurt innovation, and rights groups said the government could use it to stifle online discussion. The law came into effect on 2 October 2019, and a few days later,

editor Terry Xu wrote a Facebook post saying the ruling could use POFMA to suppress whistleblower complaints during an election. The Ministry of Communications and Information disputed this post, saying appointed senior civil servants would enforce POFMA during election periods.

Broadcasting Act

In 2013, Singapore enacted a law requiring licenses for news sites that report regularly on the country, a move that critics of the ruling

People’s Action Party The People's Action Party (abbreviation: PAP) is a major conservative centre-right political party in Singapore and is one of the three contemporary political parties represented in Parliament, alongside the opposition Workers' Party (WP) and ...

see as an attempt to silence online dissent. Sites which satisfy the criteria must also put up a performance bond of $50,000, and are expected to remove content that is perceived by the MDA to be against the public interest, public security, or national harmony within 24 hours. Aside from the online websites of state-owned newspapers, socio-political websites and news providers such as Yahoo Singapore,

, Mothership.sg, The Independent Singapore, The Middle Ground were all approached to register for the class license.

Computer Misuse and Cybersecurity Act

The Computer Misuse Act (CMA) was introduced in 1993 and its offence provisions are based primarily on the United Kingdom’s 1990 legislation of the same name. In the years since, the government has taken a much tougher stand on Internet-related matters, including censorship. Amendments to the

Penal Code A criminal code (or penal code) is a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of a particular jurisdiction's criminal law. Typically a criminal code will contain offences that are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that might ...

in 2006 hold Internet users liable for "causing public mischief", and give the authorities broader powers in regulating Internet content.Mixing welfare and elitism in Singapore
Alex Au, Asia Times Online, 23 November 2006. Following the 2013 Singapore cyberattacks, the Computer Misuse Act was renamed to Computer Misuse and Cybersecurity Act.

Copyright law

On 8 July 2014, Singapore passed amendments to its existing

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

law. The amendments allow copyright holders to apply for court injunctions, making it compulsory for internet service providers block access to websites that "flagrantly-infringe" intellectual property. The new law took effect in December 2014 and in September 2016, at the request of the

Motion Picture Association of America The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distribu ...

(MPAA), Solarmovie.ph became the first website to be blocked under the amended act. In May 2018, 53 torrent and streaming websites including

The Pirate Bay The Pirate Bay (sometimes abbreviated as TPB) is an online index of digital content of entertainment media and software. Founded in 2003 by Swedish think tank Piratbyrån, The Pirate Bay allows visitors to search, download, and contribute mag ...

KickassTorrents KickassTorrents (commonly abbreviated KAT) was a website that provided a directory for torrent files and magnet links to facilitate peer-to-peer file sharing using the BitTorrent protocol. It was founded in 2008 and by November 2014, KAT became ...

and Solarmovie.sc were blocked following an application by the MPAA, after 4 years of discussions.

Remote Gambling Act

On 7 October 2014, the government passed the "Remote Gambling Act". Under the new law it is an offence, punishable by jail terms and fines, for people to place bets on overseas gambling websites from Singapore. Advertisements for gambling websites are also outlawed. The law took effect on 1 February 2015 when several hundred remote gambling websites were blocked.

Banned websites

The IMDA (previously the MDA) maintains a list of more than 100 banned websites. When trying to access a blocked site, visitors are usually greeted by an IMDA or error message depending on the individual ISP and web filtering service. The MDA message is only applicable to public places and office buildings. The Site Blocked message is applicable to most homes. 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. The government also maintains a "symbolic blocklist" of pornographic websites such as

and

RedTube RedTube is a pornographic video sharing site, which in September 2009 held an Alexa ranking within the world's top 100 sites. It is one of several pornographic websites owned by Mindgeek. In June 2010 it had fallen out of the top 100, but it ...

, and blocks sites that it considered to have "flagrant disrespect of family values, public morality" such as extramarital dating site

Circumvention software

In order to get around the government's control of the Internet, citizens have developed numerous techniques. Software applications for circumventing web-blocking are readily available.

Tor Tor, TOR or ToR may refer to: Places * Tor, Pallars, a village in Spain * Tor, former name of Sloviansk, Ukraine, a city * Mount Tor, Tasmania, Australia, an extinct volcano * Tor Bay, Devon, England * Tor River, Western New Guinea, Indonesia Sc ...

is in use through software including

xB Browser xB Browser (formerly known as TorPark and Xerobank browser) was a web browser designed to run on both the Tor (anonymity network), Tor and XeroBank anonymity networks, and is available as component of the xB Machine and the xB Installer. It i ...

and Vidalia, and a number of other proxy solutions including

Proxify If you are looking for Proxify (Company) Proxify is a partly free, single-serving website that enables users to communicate more anonymously on the Internet. An example of this is to have Proxify use an SSH tunnel, already created and listening i ...

Freenet Freenet is a peer-to-peer platform for censorship-resistant, anonymous communication. It uses a decentralized distributed data store to keep and deliver information, and has a suite of free software for publishing and communicating on the Web ...

is another popular solution available for free download from the Internet. GOM, a

browser extension A browser extension is a small software module for customizing a web browser. Browsers typically allow a variety of extensions, including user interface modifications, cookie management, ad blocking, and the custom scripting and styling of web p ...

, is circumvention software specifically made for use in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

Institutional blocks

The Ministry of Education (MOE) and individual tertiary educational providers impose censorship on individuals using their internet networks, with the help of filtering services for websites. Websites labelled under certain categories, such as criminal skills, pornography, cults/occult, extreme/obscene/violent and gambling were not viewable in these institutions. Socio-political blogger mrbrown's site was briefly blocked by the MOE for being labelled as 'extreme'.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Internet Censorship in Singapore

Freedom of expression in Singapore