MDA “assures” us that it will not apply the licensing regime on “an individual publishing views on current affairs and trends on his/her personal website or blog which does not amount to news reporting”.
The MDA “assurances” do not address the direct concerns of the public about the width of the legislation. This is because MDA’s “assurances” are absolutely not what the licensing regime states in black and white.
All that the MDA’s “assurance” really means is that it will, for the time being arbitrarily exercise their discretion not to apply the full extent of their powers under law to individual bloggers.
Let’s be clear: there is absolutely nothing stopping MDA from applying the licensing regime to individual bloggers down the line. And, because of their creative re-definition of the term “Singapore news programme”, they will be able to do so with complete impunity.. Full story
