MDA licensing framework for online news sites triggers mass opposition
In end-May, Singapore's media development authority (MDA) introduced a new licensing framework for news sites here. It raised the ire of Singaporeans online and ignited concern among Internet giants operating here. It also triggered a full-scale online movement against it and an organised protest.
The framework requires a list of 10 news sites — except for one under Yahoo Singapore, all were from the country's two main media organisations Singapore Press Holdings and MediaCorp — to apply for an individual licence.
Under the scheme, online news sites will need to obtain individual licences if they report at least once a week on Singapore’s news and current affairs over a period of two months, and are visited by at least 50,000 unique IP addresses from Singapore each month. They must then put up a performance bond of $50,000 and comply within 24 hours with should the regulator order a take down of objectionable content.
Many found the terms of the new framework broad, leaving a lot of leeway for discretion on the MDA's part. A movement called #FreeMyInternet was started by Singaporean bloggers and online social activists, and it organised an online and offline protest against the framework. It also submitted a policy paper to Members of Parliament for debate.
It even raised eyebrows among Internet giants, who under the Asia Internet Coalition, released a formal statement opposing and questioning the framework's introduction.
Some six months on, simmering anger over the framework led to hackers claiming to be part of the Anonymous collective threatening to wage war against the government. They carried out out a series of establishment-linked website defacements in protest.
