Mothership.sg asked to register under Broadcasting Act

SINGAPORE — Social news website Mothership.sg has been asked to register under the Broadcasting (Class Licence) Notification, under Section 9 of the Broadcasting Act by Apr 11, the team behind the site said.

The site is operated by social enterprise Project Fisher-Men, and includes former foreign minister George Yeo among its contributors.

In a statement signed off by the “Mothership team”, the staff said they had met with the Media Development Authority (MDA). “The editors of Mothership.sg will be meeting key stakeholders tonight (April 3) to decide whether they will comply with the regulation,” they said in the statement.

Among the Act’s requirements is that a registered site does not receive foreign funding for its “provision, management and/or operations”.

The MDA said that it notified Project Fisher-Men of the need to register on March 27. It assessed that the site met the criteria for registration in that it “engages in the propagation, promotion or discussion of political issues relating to Singapore” and that “it is structured as a corporate entity which is deemed to be more susceptible to coming under foreign influence through foreign funding”.

“The registration will not in any way affect what Mothership.sg can publish on its site,” the MDA said in a statement.

Other sites that have been recently asked to register under the Act are The Breakfast Network, which eventually opted to go offline, and The Independent, which submitted forms for registration late last year.