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Singapore cracking down on political content on Internet

New Internet technologies such as podcasting and videocasting cannot be used for disseminating political information during the upcoming election, Singapore's government said yesterday.

Bloggers are allowed to discuss politics but will have to register their sites if they consistently espouse a political line.

Streaming of "explicit political content" by parties or individuals has been banned under election advertising rules set in 2001.

The latest clarifications are aimed at curtailing the scope of those who hoped to use the internet to influence the polls, said Balaji Sadasivan, senior minister of state for information, communications and the arts, in the Straits Times.

Increasingly popular is podcasting, an Internet audio feed.

Podcasting is not among the "positive list" of regulations which spells out what political parties, candidates and election agents can do to promote themselves during the campaign, Balaji said.

No date for the polls has been announced yet, but the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) is seeking a massive endorsement of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) with the defeat of the only two opposition legislators in the 84-member parliament.

Lee, who is the finance minister and son of founding father Lee Kwan Yew (李光耀), was named prime minister when his predecessor, Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), stepped down two years ago.

The PAP, which has ruled Singapore since independence, has never lost more than four seats.

It has been returned to power on nomination day in every general election since 1991, with fragmented and financially strapped opposition parties unable to contest at least half the seats, resulting in walkovers.

In the November 2001 polls, online electioneering was limited mainly to political parties posting their candidates' biographies and rally information on Web sites.

In elaborating, Balaji said that Web sites of political parties and those who take an avowedly political stance have to be registered by the Media Development Authority (MDA).

Bloggers who "persistently propagate, promote or circulate political issues relating to Singapore" are also 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," Balaji said.
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