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Source:
www.mica.gov.sg |
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Parliament Sitting on 3 April 2006 |
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QUESTION NO. *424 FOR ORAL ANSWER |
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Mr Low Thia Khiang: To ask the Minister for
Information, Communications and the Arts whether the Government intends
to change the laws and regulations concerning the use of Internet and
new technologies such as podcasts for campaigning during the General
Election and, if so, what will be the main changes and when will such
changes be made public. |
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Response from the Senior Minister of State
for Information, Communications and the Arts Dr Balaji Sadasivan: |
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Currently, there are several pieces of
legislation and guidelines which cover Internet campaigning issues or
which touch on such matters. |
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These include the Parliamentary Elections
Act (PEA) and the Election Advertising Regulations under the PEA, and
the Class Licence Scheme and the Internet Code of Practice administered
by the Media Development Authority (MDA). |
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Political parties, candidates and election
agents are permitted to use the Internet for election advertising based
on a ˇ°positive listˇ± of activities listed in the Election Advertising
Regulations. |
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The ˇ°positive listˇ± ensures the responsible
use of the Internet during the elections. In a free-for-all Internet
environment, where there are no rules, political debates could easily
degenerate into an unhealthy, unreliable and dangerous discourse flush
with rumours and distortions to mislead and confuse the public. |
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The Government has always maintained that
political debates should be premised on factual and objective
presentation of issues and arguments. The regulations governing Internet
campaigning have served well to safeguard the seriousness of the
electoral process. |
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Political parties, candidates and their
election agents will continue to be guided by the ˇ°positive listˇ± in the
Election Advertising Regulations in the coming general elections. Party
political websites must be registered with the MDA. Failure to register
is a breach of the class licence conditions. |
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Private or individual bloggers can discuss
politics. However, if they persistently propagate, promote or circulate
political issues relating to Singapore , they are required to register
with the MDA. During the election period, these registered persons will
not be permitted to provide material online that constitutes election
advertising. |
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Mr Low has asked about podcasting. I take
podcasting to mean the provision of an audio feed over the Internet to
subscribers. As I have noted, during the election period, political
parties, candidates and election agents must keep to permitted election
advertising set out in the ˇ°positive listˇ±. Podcasting does not fall
within this list. |
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There are also some well-known local blogs
run by private individuals who have ventured into podcasting. The
content of some of these podcasts can be quite entertaining. |
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However, the streaming of explicit political
content by individuals during the election period is prohibited under
the Election Advertising Regulations. A similar prohibition would apply
to the videocasting, or video streaming of explicitly political content. |
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At this point, the Government has no
intention to amend the legislation regulating Internet campaigning
during an election. But the review of government regulations is a
continual process so as to ensure that they are kept up-to-date. |
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We recognise that in our society, people
will have their diverse opinion and some will want to share their
opinion. But people should not take refuge behind the anonymity of
the Internet to manipulate public opinion. It is better and more
responsible to engage in political debates in a factual and
objective manner. |
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Source:
www.mica.gov.sg |
General Election
2006 |
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FrontPage Edition: Sat 8 Apr 2006
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