From Kuan Yew to Hsien Loong, the government adopts a one-step
forward, two-steps back approach in calibrating space for political
expression.
Today, there are three tiers of censorship in Singapore. The 1st
tier are the legislations such as the ISA, Sedition Act, Films Act,
Broadcast Act, Undesirable Publications Act, Public Order Act,
civil and criminal defamation and the new weapon of choice -
contempt of court.
The 2nd tier of censorship involves a combination of rules and
regulations drawn up by government bodies, particularly the MDA.
For instance, under the Broadcasting (Class License) Notification,
all websites that "propagates, promotes or discuss political and
religious issues relating to Singapore" are required to register
with MDA. This week we witness a casualty of this regulation with
the closure of the Breakfast Network. And we also learn that the
definition of websites now includes facebook and twitter.
Finally, the 3rd tier of censorship which is the most insidious. We
are seeing less and less of it but it is still prevalent. In
Singapore, when politically sensitive subjects are raised in
public, there is uneasiness that one's speech and movement is being
monitored. The defence against this perceived State surveillance is
avoidance - that is to say - stay away from discussing politics in
public. This climate of political fear creates a culture of
self-censorship.
http://singaporerebel.blogspot.sg/2013/12/50-years-under-paps-grip.html
