Term paper on Censorship And The Internet

Censorship And The Internet Essays

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Technology and censorship are often seen

as opposing forces in the information age. This

tension is exemplified by the case of Singapore,

which wants to harness new technologies for

development while having censorship controls in

place.

This paper looks at how Singapore is going about

censorship of the Internet. It is part of a larger study

into how Singapore proposes to censor without

losing the advantages of new technologies.

The paper begins by noting that censorship

in Singapore is justified on historical and socio-

political grounds. Both the government and the

people want it, favouring caution and prevention

over liberalism.

In line with these desires, the Singapore

government has drawn up guidelines for censorship.

In practice, however, some of these principles

conflict, especially when censorship of the Internet is

attempted.

The paper then looks at problems in

censorship of the Internet and examines some

censorship measures that have been attempted.

The paper concludes with the observation

that current thinking suggests it is almost impossible

to both control information and reap the benefits of

the information age. Singapore is trying

nevertheless.

1. Introduction

In 1991, Singapore's National Computer Board, a

quasi-government body that looks into the use of

computers, began a study on how information

technology could be harnessed to create new

competitive advantages and improve the quality of

life in Singapore.

Also in that year, the Ministry of Information and

the Arts began its once-a-decade review of

censorship laws and standards across all media.

When both reports were completed, it was clear

that neither technology nor censorship could stand

without one considering the other. Some censorship

laws could impact negatively the diffusion of

computers in society. On the other hand, new forms

of media were making it difficult to maintain the

extant level of censorship. The dilemma was, and is,

that Singapore wants to harness new technologies for

development, but its citizenry also wants censorship

controls in place. In the words of Bill Gates,

chairman and CEO of Microsoft Corporation after a

recent meeting with top Singapore officials, "They

are going to try to have their cake and eat it too."[1]

The problem of censorship and new technology

is best highlighted by the Internet. At present,

Internet is available to tertiary institutions through a

service called TechNet and to home and business

subscribers through Singapore Telecom's Singnet,

currently the only commercial service provider. The

Telecommunications Authority of Singapore (TAS)

has plans to allow the entry of a second commercial

Internet service provider in the near future. Already,

IBM, Apple and Microsoft have expressed interest in

being service providers. A recent estimate by

Minister for Information and the Arts George Yeo

suggests that some 26,000 Singaporeans are now on

the Internet, with the number growing by more than

a thousand a month. [2]

This paper looks at censorship of the fast-

growing Internet from a Singapore perspective of

minimising the negative effects of the new medium

while maximising the benefits to be derived from it.

The paper shows some limitations, and possibilities,

when censorship is attempted on the Internet.

2. Basis of Censorship in Singapore

From a Western, especially American,

perspective, censorship is difficult if not impossible

to defend. But the position of the Singapore

government and indeed even the citizenry is that

there are good reasons for censorship. First, as there

is anecdotal evidence to suggest that media can have

negative effects on their consumers, it is therefore

wiser to err on the side of caution through

censorship. Second, there have been incidents in the

past where media reports have caused racial riots

and the shedding of blood. These are the 1950 Maria

Hertogh riots, the 1964 riots during Prophet

Muhammad's birthday, and the 1969 riot spillover

from Malaysia. These riots have been blamed partly

on uninhibited reporting and are often cited as

examples of how the press can incite racial and

ethnic violence.[3]

In the Maria Hertogh case, the Malay press

played up the angle (in its words and pictures) that

the Dutch girl brought up as a Muslim by a Malay

family was now forced to take up the Christian

religion. The story was read by the Muslim

community as a case of religious injustice and a riot

broke out--leaving 18 dead and 173 wounded.[4]

Most recently, the execution of a Filipino domestic

help in Singapore has sparked off anti-Singapore

sentiments in the Philippines. Again, uninhibited and

erroneous reporting have been blamed for the

demonstrations and protests against Singapore.[5]

Events like these are used to justify the need for

tight censorship in a multiracial/multireligious

society, where the unimpeded flow of ideas instead

of leading to enlightenment can sometimes have

negative effects.[6]

Censorship also survives because of the

widespread support of Singaporeans, as a recent

survey by the first author found. On a censorship

scale of 1 to 7, the three areas where Singaporeans

wanted most censorship were materials for the

young, news leading to race conflict and racially

offensive public expression in that order.[7]

Thus, censorship in Singapore is justified on

historical as well as socio-political grounds,

favouring caution and prevention over liberalism.

This position has been systematically articulated by

the government and accepted by the people as one of

the boundaries within which Singapore society must

function.

3. Principles of Censorship in Singapore

Administration of censorship in Singapore has

been performed in a typically methodical manner

with guidelines developed through experience.[8]

First, materials going into the home are more

heavily censored than those going into the corporate

world. The Singapore authorities have drawn a

distinction between information for business uses,

which should be as free flowing as possible, and

information for non-business uses. Information for

the home is seen to be of a less critical nature so

censorship of such information is regarded to have

not as deleterious an effect.

Second, materials for the young are more heavily

censored than those for adults. This is an admittedly

paternalistic principle of protecting the weaker

members of society from the possible harm of the

materials in question.

Third, materials for public consumption are more

heavily censored than those for private consumption.

This is a corollary of the second principle as it is

assumed that the public includes those who are

"weaker." Also, regardless of the level of censorship

those who are determined can always get their hands

on them. Hence private consumption can only be

policed to a limited extent. Further, it is more

efficient to police public instead of private

consumption. It should be noted that private

consumption of censorship materials is still policed

in that those found in private possession of censored

materials can be convicted in court.

Finally, materials deemed to have artistic and

educational merit are less heavily censored. This is a

recently articulated principle and has been applied to

movies, which now have an R(A) or Restricted

(Artistic) rating.

In sum, censorship in Singapore has an element

of differentiation: home vs. business, children vs.

adults, public vs. private consumption. Further,

materials that can be shown to have some tangible

and wider benefit--such as for business, art and

education--are censored with a much lighter hand.

On the other hand, materials deemed to have less

tangible benefit--such as "pure entertainment"-- are

censored more heavily.

To be sure, some of these principles come into

conflict in the administration of censorship. The

concession to artistic materials is an admission of

one such conflict. On the Internet, however, the

conflict is magnified.

4. Problems in Censorship of the Internet

As a new technology, the Internet defies

censorship because of characteristics such as

information explosion, de-massification,

convergence, computer culture and globalisation.

First, the Internet has the ability to explode

information onto every user. More information can

be gathered and distributed at a faster pace, meaning

that the flow of information in circulation increases

at an exponential rate. In Singapore, however, the

number of censors at work has not kept pace with

the explosive growth in the amount of censorable

materials.

Censorship in Singapore is undertaken by the

Censorship Section of the Ministry of Information

and the Arts. Figures from the Censorship Section

show that the number of censors has increased by 80

percent in the 10 years from 9 in 1983 to 16 in 1993.

The amount of materials that the Censorship Section

has to vet, however, has increased 400 percent over

the same period--from 102,352 in 1983 to 408,863 in

1993. On a per-person basis, the workload has

increased five-fold from about 5,500 in 1978 to more

than 25,000 in 1993.[9]

Employing more censors is, at best, a short-term

solution and in a tight labor market, an expensive

one too. Censorship is also made difficult as the

Section has only begun to obtain the equipment

necessary to vet electronic publications. Vetting,

already selective even in the 1980s, has to be even

more so in the 1990s as the capacity to censor is

unlikely to match the amount of information being

generated.

Second, the Internet borders between being a

mass and a specialised medium. The information

available on the Internet is not intended for the mass

audience. Usenet groups and web sites, for example,

are intended to cater to a specialised audience.[10]

Information on these groups and sites tend to be less

mass and more customised, and the distribution

points are multiple. This decentralisation suggests

that censorship could technically follow the

Censorship Review Committee's principle of

differentiation by target audience, i.e. homes vs.

businesses, the young vs. adults.

However, the nature of the Internet is that it has

all the potential to be a mass medium. This poses a

problem for Singapore censors because the greater

reach of material calls for a heavier degree of

censorship. The Internet therefore poses a problem

for the censorship guidelines as it conflates the

distinctions between public and private

consumption.

Third, the Internet is an example of a convergent

medium: it has a mail function, a news-reading

function and a computing-software function.

Convergence poses problems for censorship because

it becomes difficult to classify the new medium and

to decide who regulates them and how. Singapore's

current censorship regime assumes that the media

are distinct and separate from one another.

There are three regulatory regimes for the

Internet. First, it could be classified as a

telecommunications service because one major use

is electronic mail. Second, it could be considered a

computer service because one needs a computer to

access the Internet. Third, the availability of

information through Usenet group and web-sites,

where they can reach a wide audience electronically,

could qualify the Internet as a broadcasting service.

Singapore has chosen the third option: to treat the

Internet as a broadcast service. It is to be regulated

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