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MDA licensing rule could have 'chilling effects': Facebook, Google

SINGAPORE — A group representing Internet giants such as Facebook and Google has sent a strongly-worded letter expressing concerns over the Media Development Authority’s (MDA) new licensing regulations for websites, leading the Government to reiterate that the rules are meant to “safeguard fundamentals most important to the Singapore society”.

SINGAPORE — A group representing Internet giants such as Facebook and Google has sent a strongly-worded letter expressing concerns over the Media Development Authority’s (MDA) new licensing regulations for websites, leading the Government to reiterate that the rules are meant to “safeguard fundamentals most important to the Singapore society”.

The Asia Internet Coalition (AIC) — comprising eBay, Facebook, Google, Salesforce and Yahoo! Incorporated — had sent Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim a strongly-worded three-page letter on June 14, saying that the regime would have a “significant chilling effect” on innovation by introducing “ambiguous and onerous” conditions.

“It is unwarranted and excessive for the Government to extend the class-licensing framework to individually license (identified) online news sites in order to ensure regulatory parity. This is an additional layer of regulation, which has also introduced significant business uncertainty for the industry,” the coalition said in the letter signed by its President, Mr John Ure, and published on its website.

Describing the additional licensing conditions as “regressive and untenable in practice”, the AIC said the new rules could “unintentionally hamper Singapore’s ability to continue to drive innovation, develop key industries in the technology space and attract investment in this key sector”.

It added that the S$50,000 performance bond “sends a very strong wrong message to the Internet community in and beyond Singapore that these changes could presage a more restrictive attitude to the Internet”. “It also could set a precedent for more restrictive regimes around the region,” the AIC said.

Among other things, the coalition proposed that a licensed entity should not be liable for user-generated content on its platform and that the 24-hour deadline to comply with a takedown notice be removed.

Instead, licensees can respond with their “best endeavours” within a “reasonable time frame”.

Responding to media queries, an Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) spokesman said yesterday that it sent a reply to the coalition on Tuesday, while the MDA had met with AIC representatives in “early June”.

He added that the AIC has been invited to take part in the public consultation exercise on amendments to the Broadcasting Act next year.

It its reply to the AIC, the MCI reiterated that the new rules were intended to “ensure greater parity for news providers across traditional and online media platforms”.

It added that there were “only two additional requirements” on licensed news sites — on top of the Class Licence scheme and the Internet Code of Practice which were already in place previously. These were the 24-hour deadline and the performance bond.

“The first (requirement) ... takes into consideration the nature of the Internet and how quickly information can spread, and is important in the management of false news information that may cause mass panic,” the MCI said.

“(The bond) is meant to ensure that licensees remove prohibited materials found on their websites quickly, when directed to do so by the MDA.”

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