Singapore cracks down on Internet

[lutz@as-node.jena.thur.de (Lutz Donnerhacke)]

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>From: taxhaven@ix.netcom.com(Adam Starchild )
>Newsgroups: alt.censorship
>Subject: Singapore cracks down on Internet
>Date: 12 Jul 1996 14:08:00 GMT
>Organization: Netcom
>Lines: 50
>Message-ID: <4s5m80$qkq@dfw-ixnews9.ix.netcom.com>
>NNTP-Posting-Host: bal-md3-20.ix.netcom.com
>X-NETCOM-Date: Fri Jul 12  9:08:00 AM CDT 1996



>From The Financial Times (London), July 12, 1996:

                Singapore cracks down on Internet

                         by James Kynge

     Singapore yesterday announced new measures to regulate the
kind of material its citizens may view on the Internet.  It said
the new rules were aimed at protecting the national interest and
shielding children from objectionable material.
     The Singapore Broadcasting Authority said the measures - to
take effect next Monday - required Internet operators, from main
providers to cybercafes, to register with the SBA, a government
body.
     In addition, any organisation injecting locally produced
religious or political material on the Internet's World Wide Web
pages will need an SBA registration.
     Once registered, Internet providers will be responsible for
policing pages to ensure that objectionable material does not
appear.  SBA officials said the definition of "objectionable"
included content "which tends to bring the government into hatred
or contempt, or which excites disaffection against the
government".
     If such material is spotted, operators may be asked to block
access to the web site where it appears.  Failure to comply with
the new regulations could elicit a fine or the cancellation of an
operating licence.
     SBA officials said the new measures did not mean that
criticism of the government was banned but added that people
should be "responsible".  They did not define what type of
criticism was responsible and what was not.
     Singapore is due to hold national elections on an
unspecified date after mid-August this year.  Mr Goh Chok Tong,
the prime minister, has said that he wants the ruling People's
Action Party to win with more than 60 per cent of the vote.
     The city state has had a complicated relationship with the
Internet.
     On the one hand, it recognises the Internet as indispensable
to its drive to become a regional hub for information technology.
     On the other, it is concerned that the net may be a conduit
for alien influences which may corrupt Singapore's value system
of personal decorum and of respect for the family and state.
     About 100,000 of Singapore's 3m people use the Internet.

Posted by Adam Starchild
     The Offshore Entrepreneur at http://www.au.com/offshore