Criticism & Commentary

The internet is exposing us to difference without necessarily increasing our appreciation for difference. Intolerant populism may emerge as one of the main threats to internet freedom. One of the main challenges facing those of us who want to preserve and extent internet freedoms is to persuade our fellow citizens of the case for more tolerant societies. We need to promote not just our individual right to expression the ideas we like, but also stand up for the rights of those who express ideas we don’t like. Full Story

The arrest of Alan Shadrake, the British author of Once A Jolly Hangman: Singapore Justice In The Dock, is a groundbreaking case. The government rarely takes action against books: it tends to pay more attention to media that have wider reach, such as newspaper articles and the web. The case is also unusual because the government is using criminal defamation, instead of the usual civil action, against Shadrake. Full Story

At the end of his eight-day visit to Singapore, United Nations official Githu Muigai criticised the Republic's limits on free speech. "It is absolutely necessary in a free society that restrictions on public debate or discourse and the protection of racial harmony are not implemented at the detriment of fundamental human rights, such as the freedom of expression and the freedom of assembly," said the UN's Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance. Full Story

Nominated MP Viswa Sadasivan, who used to cover elections for Singapore's national broadcaster in his first career as a current affairs television producer, said in Parliament that the "cooling off" period should apply to his old employers and other mainstream media, and not just to the political parties. Their news coverage was inherently "subjective in nature", he said. Law Minister K Shanmugam defended the credibility of Singapore's national media before the House passed the Bill that would ban campaigning – but not news reports – on the eve of Polling Day. Full Story

Singaporeans For Democracy has told the visiting UN Special Rapporteur on Racism that the situation here is less harmonious than the government makes it out to be. The group, spearheaded by activist James Gomez, said that the lack of freedom of expression was denying citizens the chance to discuss problems openly. Full Story

IPS researcher Tan Tarn How said that the AWARE saga showed that there is an unformed public sphere in Singapore – "a space where people can come together to talk about issues which are relevant to them in order to have an influence on government policy". Neither mainstream nor online media have been able to fulfill this role, he said. (Video included.) Full Story

Under pressure to keep up with 24/7 news, Singapore's mainstream media have not been able to resist running Tiger Woods stories quoting the likes of the National Enquirer and TMZ.com – sources that are infamous for not caring about facts. Full Story