Blogger group slams shutdown of website as blatant censorship

SINGAPORE — A day after the authorities ordered the shutdown of socio-political site The Real Singapore, a group of bloggers known collectively as the Free My Internet movement criticised the move as “blatant censorship”.

They called for the suspension of the class licence for The Real Singapore editors to be lifted immediately, claiming that the Media Development Authority (MDA) had acted “without due process” and that its guidelines for actions against objectionable content are unclear.

“Would it not be sufficient to request the removal of specific articles, rather than the termination of an entire website? Shutting anyone down for disagreeable content ... is a trigger-happy approach,” said the group.

The Free My Internet movement, which counts The Online Citizen (TOC) and TR Emeritus editors among its ranks and was founded in 2013 in opposition to new licensing standards for online news sites, levelled another charge against MDA.

The group alleged that, with The Real Singapore editors Yang Kaiheng and Ai Takagi facing sedition charges, the MDA’s claims that the duo had published prohibited material and sought to incite anti-foreigner sentiments may have been a judicial no-no.

However, the MDA stressed that the suspension of the class licence to operate the site and its related platforms is in accordance with the Broadcasting Act and is independent of the court case.

“MDA would still have initiated the suspension even if there were no sedition charges. MDA’s move is also not dependent on the outcome of the sedition charges. As such, the issue of sub judice does not arise,” said an MDA spokesperson.

The statutory board also laid out the due process for redress for such suspensions under the Act.

Editors of alternative media and satirical sites told TODAY that a key takeaway from the latest regulatory run-in is that online media have to take responsibility for their content.

“This wasn’t a politically motivated action,” said satirical group SMRT (Feedback). “We see it as a signal by MDA to get online media to practice responsible journalism.”

Citizen journalists are now likely to think twice about linking articles to race or class, added the group.

To Mr Tan Wen Chuan, editor of Must Share News, the incident “offers a case study of what is acceptable and what isn’t, so sites like ours need to bear these in mind”.

He shared that his team has been working on editorial guidelines, in a bid to become more credible, and urged alternative media sites to come together to draft guidelines.

However, many sites and blogs already adhere to an informal code of conduct, observed managing editor of Mothership.sg Martino Tan. Blogger Ravi Philemon, for instance, said he makes it a point to fact-check across multiple sources and refrain from personal attacks.

The editorial team behind All Singapore Stuff sees the move to shut down The Real Singapore as the loss of a feedback channel for the Government and a curtailment of online voices.

The MDA’s lack of transparency, according to TOC commentaries editor Howard Lee, threatens the survival of the Singapore online media.