My sense is that for a long time now, the Singapore government has been looking for a way to give itself the power to censor the internet, in the same way that it has the power to censor offline media.
It may choose to exercise that power sparingly; but the mere possibility of censorship creates a strong chilling effect.
This new regulation is a mistake, and reinforces the perception that Singapore is a repressive place — which is precisely the wrong message to be sending to a globalised and networked world, when you are trying to build an innovative and creative economy where freedom of thought is so essential.
This is a significant retreat from the “light touch” approach to internet censorship that the Singapore government has espoused since the late 1990s. Full story
