Yahoo! Newsroom
- Over 1,000 people are estimated to have turned up for the Free My
Internet protest at Hong Lim Park in Singapore on 6 June 2013.
Around 1,500 Singaporeans
led by local bloggers attended a rally Saturday to protest new
government licensing rules for news websites that they say curtail
freedom of expression.
The peaceful
rally, held at a free-speech park called Speakers' Corner, was
organised by a coalition of bloggers called "Free My Internet" to
protest the regulations which came into force this month.
"The message today
is that the government must trust us, and stop treating us like
babies," said Choo Zheng Xi, a spokesman for the group and
co-founder of popular political news website The Online
Citizen.
"It is an
international embarrassment when governments around the world are
working to deregulate the Internet, and Singapore, one of the
wealthiest nations per capita, is going in the opposite direction,"
he told AFP.
The group had also
organised an "Internet blackout" on Thursday, where over 130
bloggers in the city-state replaced their homepages with black
screens featuring the words "#FreeMyInternet".
Under the rules,
websites with at least 50,000 unique visitors from Singapore every
month that publish at least one local news article per week over a
period of two months must obtain an annual licence.
Websites granted a
licence will have to remove "prohibited content" such as articles
that undermine "racial or religious harmony" within 24 hours of
being notified by Singapore's media regulator, the Media
Development Authority (MDA).
The new rules have
sparked anger in the city-state's robust blogging and social media
community which has accused the government of a lack of
consultation and raised fears the regulations are aimed at muzzling
free expression.
Blogs and social
media have gained popularity as alternative sources of news and
opinion in Singapore, where the mainstream newspapers are perceived
to be pro-government.
"The government
should stop thinking that they can pass laws as and when they
fancy," said rally participant Raymond Kwok, 29.
"There must be a
process of consultation, or it makes democracy and our parliament a
farce," said the human resources executive.
The government has
sought to allay the fears, pointing out that blogs were not
considered news portals and do not come under the rules.
Minister for
Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim said Tuesday the
government would continue to take a "light touch" approach to
regulating the Internet.
Saturday's rally
is the third major protest to take place at Speakers' Corner this
year.
Two rallies
against the government's immigration policy were held earlier this
year garnering crowds of more than 3,000, making them the country's
biggest protests in decades.
