Singapore

In four recent cases Singaporeans have tested the limits of freedoms they can take for granted. A video, a film, a blog and a graphic novel have pushed at the boundaries of what can be said, and the government realises that it cannot simply ban these anymore.

Blogger Amos Yee, 16, spent more than 50 days in detention. During this time, his Facebook page was continually updated with what appeared to be accounts of his detention. Reports of mental stress, hospitalisation, and assault led many to worry about his safety.

Blogger Roy Ngerng is worried that the damages in a defamation case filed against him by Singapore’s prime minister, will deal him a financial blow from which he may not be able to recover.

Singaporean authorities ordered an independent news website to be shut down, citing the website’s content as being objectionable to state interests, according to news reports. The Real Singapore is the first news website to be shut down under the country’s licensing regulations, introduced in 2013.

Singapore police arrested Amos Yee, a teenage video blogger, in connection with an eight-minute video he posted on YouTube in which he criticised the policies and political heritage of the late Lee Kuan Yew.

Prominent blogger Alex Au Wai Pang faces a fine and imprisonment when he is sentenced on 5 March.

The Singapore High Court judge convicted Alex Au Waipang in connection with an October 2013 article the blogger wrote that suggested a chief justice had manipulated court dates on a constitutional challenge to a law criminalising gay sex between men.

Government control in Singapore grows as more websites must get onerous licenses.

“And Tango Makes Three” is a children’s book about two adult male penguins who hatch an egg and raise a youngster. In the view of Singapore’s National Library Board, it’s dangerous enough to get pulled from the shelves, along with two other books that also fell under the board’s censorious eye.

Two defamation lawsuits were filed recently by the prime ministers of Malaysia and Singapore against online media regarding the publication of articles criticising their roles as leaders in their respective countries.

Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong demanded an apology from a critical blogger who has allegedly accused him of corruption. Roy Ngerng Yi Ling, who is also a healthcare worker, has frequently posted critical commentary on the ruling People’s Action Party on his blog, “The Heart Truths”.

Singapore’s mainstream media revolves more around educating people along official narratives rather than serving as a Fourth Estate. But as citizens increasingly turn to the Internet as their source of news and information, websites and blogs are making an unmistakable impact on Singapore’s media landscape.

The IFJ welcomes the landmark decision of a Singapore Court of Appeal to overturn an order that journalist James Dorsey should disclose his sources for an article he had written on his blog, “The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer”.

An exploration of the views of Singaporeans and media professionals on free speech in a country known for its heavy-handed treatment of public criticism of government policy.

Despite Singapore’s long history of media regulation, some citizens are expressing cautious optimism that the government may be unable to control the online expression of opinion.

Free speech has suffered in Singapore, says Human Rights Watch – faced with contempt of court charges, a political cartoonist has agreed to publicly apologise for publishing four cartoons on his Facebook page that the authorities claimed “scandalized the judiciary”.