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Source:
www.mica.gov.sg |
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Parliament Sitting on 3 April
2006 QUESTION NO. *407 FOR ORAL ANSWER |
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Mdm Ho Geok
Choo: To ask the Minister for Information,
Communications and the Arts |
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(a) whether his Ministry has taken any
action against bloggers who deliberately post lewd photographs of
themselves or others, with or without their consent, on their blogs; and |
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(b) how many people have been charged for
such offences. |
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Response
from the Senior Minister of State for Information, Communications and
the Arts Dr Balaji Sadasivan: |
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I share the Member¨s concern about bloggers
posting lewd photographs of themselves or others on their blogs. |
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We recognise that blogs are a means of
private communication used by individuals as well as groups. However,
bloggers must realise that the materials they post in their personal
blogs can be seen in the public domain. |
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Posting of content such as lewd photographs
of themselves or others, would be offensive to many other Internet
users. Bloggers could also run foul of the law. |
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While some bloggers may do it deliberately,
some others, especially young Singaporeans, may not be aware of the
adverse consequences of their action. |
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That is why we have emphasised the
importance of developing public education programmes and industry
self-regulation to work hand in hand with legal enforcement, so as to
keep our online environment safe for all users. |
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To date, there has been no police report
complaining about lewd pictures posted by Singaporeans or of lewd
pictures being hosted on blogs in Singapore. |
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When the Police receive public information
on such cases, they will investigate and assess each case. Where
offences have been committed, they will investigate them thoroughly. |
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If an offender is apprehended, he or she may
be prosecuted. The Media Development Authority will assist the Police
with these investigations. |
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The Government recognises that legal
enforcement alone is not enough, given the nature of the Internet where
bloggers could be anonymous. It is crucial for us to address the issue
by building up awareness and responsibility in using the Internet among
our young users. |
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In this regard, education plays an important
role whereby parents, schools and the community work together through
various programmes to help promote safe practices online . The MDA has
also funded public education efforts on Internet. |
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Furthermore, the Government has been working
actively with the industry and the local Internet Service Providers
(ISPs) to promote greater industry self- regulation. |
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This is to encourage the industry to
provide a safe Internet environment for subscribers, especially
families with young children . |
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A positive result is that ISPs now offer
Family Access Networks (FANs) that filter out undesirable websites to
their subscribers. |
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Source:
www.mica.gov.sg News Release 3
Apr 2006 |
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FrontPage Edition: Sun 14 May 2006
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