Regulations of political commentary on the Internet in Singapore

Modern technology has allowed people to have the freedom of speech via World Wide Web. The Internet is a global network of interconnected computers, enabling users to share information along multiple channels. Many people all around the world have come to realise that Internet and the World Wide Web are very powerful tools to be used intermittently for announcement and for media purposes. Ever since the increase in use of the Internet, more people have found a way to make use of this tool to distribute their different political ideology. Therefore, to prevent political instability within Singapore which would rock the nation’s foundations, the government has come up with regulations of political commentary on the Internet in Singapore. Many people may disagree with the regulations. However I feel that though they may be harsh, they are very useful as it protects Singaporeans from having an unstable country due to its political instability which will eventually lead to economical instability should it occur.

With new regulations, political podcasts, which are part of political commentaries that make use of the streaming of videos for entertainment or advertising, are now banned during election periods. People may think that this regulation is also partially useless, because the people can still comment on the different politically-linked things before or after the election period. However, the government has also thought of this because they also set up another regulation which states that “during non-election periods, they can continue to post but individual bloggers who step over the line of political harmfulness will be given a warning and subsequently be seriously fined or assigned a jail term.”

However, the people of Singapore have the right to know the truth about the politicians and their ideology. When this regulation is implemented, it leads to Singaporeans to have only one side of the ideology and not the cons. This means that the people can only see how good something is and the view that the governmental officers want the general public to see. However, they do not show the harmful “side-effects” of the regulation, which would be negligible and would not affect political stability if the government doesn’t want us to know.

Also in 2001, the Government instituted new regulations under the PEA governing the internet: the Parliamentary Elections (Election Advertising) Regulations (PER) which states that: candidates and parties are allowed to use the internet for election advertising. Photos and manifestoes, chat rooms, membership recruitment messages, and announcements of meetings on the web or through email are all explicitly permitted under the PER.

Having different ideas and many differing discussions on the net may also lead the citizens of Singapore to come up with biased views of the different political parties, which will affect the election, which will eventually affect the future of the political stability of Singapore. This is why people should not just believe what they see and are told, they have to base their thoughts on a very reliable source before coming up with a conclusion.

Even though the regulations may be a little harsh, it is certainly worth to have it as it does not cause too much political instability. However, it would be good to revise these regulations once in a while to suit the needs of the majority of the public better. Websites such as mrbrown.com and talkingcock.com have been coming up with funny and comical videos to relieve the stress that people are having and it also makes Singaporeans see the better side of these regulations which is aiding the government. Although it may critic the Singapore government and cross the boundary of political harmfulness, it certainly is up and running as it is cooperative. Therefore, in conclusion, I believe that what the government has done is right and these regulations should continue to be respected by countrymen.



PS. Should anyone find this post disturbing or feels that it is against the political regulations in Singapore, please email Mr. Adrian Chan at chanch@hc.edu.sg.