The new regressive rules have been rebuked by Asia Internet Coalition (AIC) set up in 2011 by Google, Facebook, Yahoo and eBay to lobby for open access to the internet and promote e-commerce.
7th July 2013
Singapore’s move to tighten regulation of news web sites has attracted criticisms from unexpected quarters; large internet firms with a big presence in the city-state opine the new rules will hurt the industry. Web giants Facebook, eBay, Google and Yahoo have said the revised rules “ have negatively impacted Singapore’s global image as an open and business friendly country”. The comments, made in a letter to Singapore’s minister of communications and information by the Asia Internet Coalition, an industry body, are the first sign that Singapore’s success in wooing major players to its shores stands doubtful. Google, eBay, Facebook, Sales force and Yahoo all have a major presence in the city state. The five companies including Sales force a cloud computing corporation were part of the hundreds of other companies that objected to the government legislation in the United States.
Earlier in May, Singapore said websites that regularly report on the country would have to be licensed and listed 10 news sites that would be affected, based on criteria such as having 50,000 unique visitors from Singapore each month. Websites affected by the new licensing regime would have to put up an S $ 50,000 bond as well as remove articles or stories within 24 hours that authorities deem as objectionable. However, The Media Development Authority defended the changes saying the new licensing framework is not intended to clamp down on internet freedom. The rule will first affect Yahoo’s Singapore news sites, seven sites operated by Singapore Press Holdings Ltd, which has close relations with the government and two sites owned by state owned broadcaster MediaCorp. But the rule may affect websites which are based locally and overseas in the near future.
Internet and its allied industries have become an important sector for Singapore growing 23 percent to S $ 103 billion; it generates employment to more than 144,000 people, out of the city-state’s 3.2 million workforce, according to a government estimate. The new regressive rules have been rebuked by Asia Internet Coalition (AIC) set up in 2011 by Google, Facebook, Yahoo and eBay to lobby for open access to the internet and promote e-commerce.
“The current vague and broad terms in the regulation and implementation will hamper innovation and deter industry growth by posing a ‘financial risk’ upon potential financial start ups” the association said. It also criticized the new rules as onerous, regressive and untenable in practice and arguing that it will impact the image of the city-state as an open and business friendly country. The U.S. said it was “deeply concerned” by the rules introduced last month and urged the city-state to protect freedom of speech.
Government Defends Move
Minister for Information and Communications Yaacub Ibrahim said he was “puzzled” by the comments made by AIC, he said the new licensing regime has nothing to do with business in Singapore but make certain websites more responsible. The media regulator would also be flexible on relaxing certain norms including the financial aspects to avoid creating undue commercial pressures on licensees, the minister said. For instance, the regulators would consider imposing a lower bond quantum on licensees who cannot afford to fork out the S $ 50,000 dollars needed as a performance bond.
“There is no cause for concerns that the individual licensing of news sites will stifle internet freedom, neither is there cause to worry that this will hamper the development of the Internet ecosystem in Singapore, or create uncertainty for related businesses,” the minister said, adding that the new rules are meant to ensure that news is reported responsibly.