Censorship and Internet: A Singapore Perspective

 

http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/APCITY/UNPAN004065.pdf

 

Summary:

Singapore faces many challenges in the Internet’s censorship. This is mainly due to its operating philosophy and technical set-up. The Internet defies censorship because of characteristics such as information explosion, de-massification, convergence, computer culture and globalisation.

The Internet has the ability to explode information onto every user. However, the number of censors at work has not kept pace with the explosive growth in the amount of censorable materials.

In addition, computer culture does not encourage censorship as maximum freedom is celebrated. Cyberspace culture is not value-free in that it privileges free speech and the free flow of ideas as a route to social and intellectual progress.

Furthermore, censorship can be bypassed. For example, although materials can be censored by restricting access, users can simply access these restricted materials from overseas service providers.  

 

In addition, The Internet poses a problem due to its global interconnectivity. As different countries have different standards of censorship, there is the question of which standard of censorship should be adopted. 

Despite these difficulties, Singapore is still trying to put controls in place. For example, using technology itself to control technology. However, it is not working as well as hoped. 

In conclusion, the Internet is something very hard to control, and although the Singapore government is aware that it cannot do much to censor the Internet they keep trying.

Assumptions: 

The writers assume that Singapore has not changed its views on censorship and still wishes to harness the power of the Internet. They also assume that technology has not improved to the extent that it can control the material on the Internet.