Various websites run by Singapore bloggers will stage a “blackout” this Thursday, 12:00 AM to 11:59 PM, to protest against the Media Development Authority’s (MDA) latest licensing regulations.
These regulations, which target websites that report on Singapore related news at least once a week, and attracts visitors from 50,000 unique Singapore IP addresses every month, will require online news sites to put up a S$50,000 “performance bond” and to remove any content found to be in breach of MDA’s standards. So far, MDA has identified ten websites that will have to comply, including Yahoo! News Singapore.
According to MDA, the new rules will put online news sites “on a more consistent regulatory framework with traditional news platforms which are already individually licensed.”
Naturally, the move is being seen by many as political censorship, and has even attracted international attention, including from the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Authorities, however, insist that the regulations are not intended as a clampdown on alternative voices.
This “blackout”, reminiscent of the protests against SOPA and PIPA back in January 2012, is organised by the “Free My Internet” movement, a group of netizens who has decried the new regulations and is calling for its abolishment. The group is also organising a physical protest to be held at Hong Lim Park this Saturday.
Needless to say, the Internet is virtually impossible to control, and it remains to be seen how exactly the Singapore government intends to enforce these new regulations.
These measures to control the internet for whatever reason the PAP dictatorial govt practising a farce DemoCrazy are just NOTHING more than lame disguises against legitimate grievances against the government who has in the last few years made plenty of mistakes AND Now the are trying to shut them out in order for them to expectantly LOOSE more votes, and at the same time to ‘PREVENT’ new citizens whose votes the tyrannical PAP govt sorely needs in lieu of citizens’ hatred votes which has brought them the least popular votes SHARES in the last election 2 years ago. The PAP govt has continued to shout incessantly that due to globalisation which Singapore is plugged in into the wire world, AND NOW openly BLATANTLY they sing a vastly different tune.
The PAP-controlled public press rated as below 4th world’s standards SPEAKS volumes. In other words the PAP is simply FEARFUL of loosing their dictatorial POWER which is indescribable in ANY OTHER WAY.