KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 9 — Alarm over Putrajaya’s plan to regulate online media may prove unfounded, with one Singaporean website saying that it has been “business as usual” despite such regulation introduced in the republic.
According to The Online Citizen’s (TOC) Howard Lee, the required registration has not affected the Singapore-based socio-political site’s content.
What has changed is the “greater administrative burden” on TOC - including limitations on fund-raising methods and funding sources, the need to declare funds raised to Singapore regulator Media Development Authority (MDA), he said.
Under the MDA’s registration system, online sites must deposit up to S$50,000 as a performance bond, which is used to ensure they comply with orders to remove objectionable content within 24 hours of being directed to do so.
“Some independent websites are better resourced than others to deal with this administrative burden. But in terms of content production, TOC is proceeding business as usual,” the TOC commentaries editors told Malay Mail Online in an email when contacted on Friday.
When asked how difficult it has been for Singaporeans to gain access to information and ensure government accountability, Lee said that not much has changed with the registration of online media, noting that they need to pay greater attention to other laws instead.
But he said the new rule grants Singapore’s media regulator the authority to shut down websites at will, even if such moves are unpopular.
“The Real Singapore (TRS) was forced to close down earlier this year on charges of sedition, and we have had various bloggers who were forced to remove their content when accused of defamation (Roy Ngerng), contempt of court (Alex Au), and harassing a government agency (TOC, on two occasions),” he said.
Explaining the Singapore experience, Lee said they had learnt of the need to press their government to be “transparent and accountable” over the registration regulation.
One key complaint was the lack of clarity over how websites are to be regulated under Singapore’s expanded Broadcasting Act, Lee said.
“Malaysians need not necessarily disagree with internet regulation, but they have a right to ask for greater clarity and accountability for how it is done,” he said.
Lee also spoke of the need to distinguish “illegal” content such as child pornography and information that incites violence from what is “merely controversial”, such as views that are critical of the government.
“Laws to protect people are necessary, but laws to restrict thinking and political participation is a violation of human rights.”
According to Martino Tan, the managing editor of Mothership.sg, the MDA listed ten websites when it first introduced the registration system in 2013 after amending Singapore’s Broadcasting Act.
Mothership.sg is the latest to join the list, becoming the 11th.
Despite initial concerns over the regulation, Tan told Malay Mail Online that the Singaporean government has yet to order any of the registered news sites to remove their content.
“Since the implementation of the requirement two years ago, we note that none of the previous ten sites have been contacted by the authorities to comply with their take-down directions, which is to remove content within 24 hours of being notified,” he said in an email.
In the early days of the registration system, Singapore site The Breakfast Network decided to cease operations instead of registering as requested by the MDA.
Despite the optimistic prognosis from the Singaporean outlets, however, it is unclear if their experience will translate to Malaysia.
It remains unknown whether Malaysia will adopt Singapore’s model that imposes the performance bond on websites with at least 50,000 monthly visitors or if it will look elsewhere for its inspiration.
On Thursday, newly-appointed Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak revealed that Putrajaya is expected to table new cyber laws in Parliament this October, with proposals to compel online news organisations to register their websites currently being studied.
Yesterday, Salleh cited Singapore as among examples of countries that Malaysia was studying in order to formulate its own laws to govern online media.
Malaysia’s online media currently enjoys relative freedom due to the government’s promise in the 1990s to not censor the Internet and the absence of licensing requirements, unlike that of print media that require printing permits that may be suspended and revoked by the Home Ministry.
Several watchdogs and opposition politicians have said that the regulation of online media may lead to these alternative news sources imposing self-censoring and curtail Malaysians’ rights to freedom of expression and information.
