By Jeanette
Tan | Yahoo!
Newsroom – Fri, Jul 6, 2012
A survey on online commenting
behaviour in Singapore has found that a majority of Singaporeans
disagree with internet censorship.
Some 48 per cent of Singaporeans feel that
alternative news sites such as The Online
Citizen and Temasek Review Emeritus should be
allowed to say what they like, despite being critical of the
government, a study conducted by independent research
firmBlackbox Research found.
A third of survey respondents felt such sites should
be properly regulated alongside other news providers, while just
one per cent said these sites should be banned.
Majority of respondents were also forgiving of
racist comments, which are illegal if they promote feelings of
ill-will and hostility among different races and classes in
Singapore.
Furthermore, about three quarters of respondents
felt there was no need for legal action to be taken against
internet users who post racist comments online, with 59 per cent
saying a formal warning should be issued for a first-time offence,
and 16 per cent saying it would be sufficient to publicly shame
them online.
David Black, managing director of Blackbox Research
said, “On the issue of online racism, most Singaporeans appear to
lean towards leniency for first time offenders. This might reflect
a level of tolerance and a willingness to forgive those who have
not thought through the consequences of their postings, at least
the first time."
A 72 per cent majority of the survey respondents
also said Singaporeans should be allowed to post comments online
anonymously.
The study also found that while just 18 per cent of
Singaporean internet users post comments online, 63 per cent of
them use either an online nickname or do so
anonymously.
In addition, its findings revealed that 58 per cent
of comments posted online are critical either of a local company or
of the government.
More than 2,300 Singaporeans aged 18 and above were
interviewed over a three-month period from March till May this year
for the study, and were asked about their online commenting habits,
as well as their levels of readership and trust in various news
media in Singapore.
Under these findings, 70 per cent of respondents
read The Straits Times, Singapore’s national broadsheet, and 43 per cent trust it the
most.
Yahoo! Singapore came in second,
with Today a
close third, enjoying 43 and 42 per cent readership across the
study participants. Trust in both is lower, however,
with Yahoo! being
trusted the most by 13 per cent of Singaporeans,
and Today by 7
per cent.
National broadcaster Channel NewsAsia was rated most trusted
by 13 per cent of Singaporeans as well, with 29 per cent of the
survey’s respondents reading it at least once a
week.
See the infographic summarising the study's
findings here.
