A view from the UK on Singapore's latest censorship episode

As I scrolled through Facebook tonight, there were endless number of articles from various Singaporeans protesting at MDA's Broadcast Act which has come into force - I have read a number of these articles and noticed how many of these attracted comments from people outside Singapore. I have had the chance to speak to some of my friends here in London about the issue and have compiled some of their comments to give my readers in Singapore how the rest of the world views this episode. My friends have been able to compare the situation in Singapore not just to the UK, but to a number of countries around the world and I share their perspectives with you now.

CJ, 45, Male

This reminds me a lot about how the Apartheid government in South Africa used to censor everything, you know. I was a young white person growing up in South Africa in the 1970s and 1980s - we were blissfully unaware of what the rest of the world thought about the Apartheid system then, we simply listened to what the government was willing to tell us. They needed to censor the news then as the Apartheid government was afraid of the black Africans organizing a rebellion against the Apartheid government. Of course, back then, it was easy as we're talking about South Africa back in the day - many people didn't even have television or a telephone back then, only rich white people had those and it was easy to control what the newspapers and magazines printed then. And then there's radio of course and it was easy to control those as the government could decide who worked in the radio stations, what they were allowed to broadcast... It was all very low-tech back then, we're going back many years.

But for the Singapore government to try to enforce this level of censorship in the age of the internet? How is that going to work? You cannot control the internet - technology will find a way around it. You know how you're not supposed to be able to access Facebook in China? Well those who are determined enough can and will find a way to get onto Facebook in China, it isn't that difficult. Singaporeans are pretty well educated, resourceful people - they're not just going to sit back and be told what to think, right? I would be interested to find out if it has any real effect on censoring the news in Singapore. Yes I have already seen the piece on the BBC about this and it was very negative indeed - it paints a really bad impression of the Singaporean government being all draconian and nasty. Is the BBC censored in Singapore? Can they censor the BBC in Singapore? No. So what is the point of this act?

Tyler, 39, Male

It sounds like the Singapore government have not really understood how the internet works - but let me share a story with you to illustrate my point that they're not the only government like that. I once had a really lucrative contract with a mobile operator in a country in the Middle East - I am not going to name that mobile network or even the country, but it suffices to say that they are very rich and have a lot of oil. Someone high up in their government... well, ruling family, decided that it was bad for the morals of the young people of that country to access porn on their mobile phones and they were going to ban porn on mobile phones in that country.

So they thought if they just chucked enough money at the mobile operators, they could get it done. The mobile operators thought, gee, we can try to put the usual filters in but that's really for parents to stop their children from accessing adult content online. How are you going to stop adults from trying to access a porn site on their mobile phones? So that's where I got roped in to try to help them create new and ever more sophisticated filters for their mobile internet - but you know, it is a game of cat and mouse.

Can you censor the world of the mobile internet? 

There was just so much porn out there you couldn't possibly block every porn site and the young people we were dealing with were smart enough to find their way around firewalls and filters - the reality was that no amount of their government's oil money could build the kind of firewall they wanted to keep all adult content out of their country. This was very embarrassing for their government of course as they thought they could just throw a lot of money at the problem until they could solve it - technology just doesn't work like that.

I remember telling a government official  at a meeting, "if you don't want your young people to look at adult material on the internet, why don't you try telling them why they should try to look at such content rather than try to censor it? Given that you cannot censor the internet, you should instead give your youths some moral guidance when it comes to what they access on the internet." He looked at me angrily and said something in Arabic to his aide before walking off in a huff. He just didn't get it. His aide then gently took me aside and told me, "Please, you must understand. You are here for the technology, not to give him advice on morals, just you do what you are paid to do, okay?"

Politicians should seek advice before they present their grand visions. 

So in the case of the Singapore government, are they trying to censor every negative opinion written about them by journalists? Get real - how are you going to do that? This is the internet we're talking about - they're as daft as those rich Arabs who wanted to censor internet porn in their country. Singapore's a rich country - the government are going to through a lot of money at this ridiculous gesture and at some point realize it is not going to work. That's what happened to that Middle Eastern country in the end - they realized they had bitten off more than they could chew. So they picked up on some other moral or vice issue for them to kick up a big fuss about, so they can forget they have ever tried to censor the internet. Such is the Middle East for you.

Elaine, 29, Female

From what I know about Singapore, the locals are probably going to just grin and bear it, right? They already put up with so many restrictions in Singapore with your strict laws on chewing gum and littering, so what's another law? I guess for us Brits, this looks draconian and against everything we stand for as a democratic society, freedom of speech and expression is so important for us, but I guess you don't miss something you've never had? Maybe the Singaporeans who have lived abroad and are used to a more liberal or Western society would kick up a big fuss, but I suspect many locals won't. I don't know whether to feel sorry or not for such people - ignorance can be bliss sometimes. It does remind me of China, where you're free to make money today and go shopping at the mall - but you should never meddle in politics or criticize the government. Singapore may have the trappings of a very Westernized English speaking country, but in this aspect, it is far more like China than Australia.

Singapore resembles China in more ways than one. 

Kate, 26, Female

Why don't they just leave? You know, move elsewhere, to another country, rather than just stay and put up with this? If a bunch of fascists took over this country and started imposing such draconian laws, I would leave! Especially if that bunch of fascists were actually democratically elected, then it would be like - okay, so most of the people in this country actually voted for this system? Fine, you can have things like that if the majority wants it but I am outta here. The Singaporean government is democratically elected right? Damn, it must suck for those who don't support them.

Jan, 44, Male

I grew up in East Germany and the Berlin Wall came down in 24 years ago in 1989 and I was already 20 years old then. So yes, I know what it is like to live in a country where you have a government that controls everything and doesn't care about free speech, shamelessly asserting control over everything. We had the state security police then - the Stasi - who would swoop down on anyone who dared to criticize the government. How did East German people react to that kind of system? I think there were two kinds. Firstly, there were people like me who were painfully aware of the restrictions and we hated it, we were miserable and thought about plans to leave East Germany. There are all these incredible stories about how East Germans have made these incredible escape journeys to West Germany and as a teenager, I had all kinds of plans as well - then the Berlin Wall came crashing down in 1989.

Then you had my cousin - we are about the same age and he frustrated at me, he said I couldn't change the way the world was. It wasn't like he loved the East German system or actively supported their ideology, he simply focused on the things that made him happy - sports, his girlfriend, his family... He was thankful for the things that he had and didn't care about things he didn't have. I think he chose to be blissfully ignorant and happy by that token, but yeah, some people do react like that when you place them in a situation like the East German regime.

So yes, I can imagine that in Singapore with this ridiculous law being passed like that - there will be people who will be angry and then there will be people who will react like my cousin. They will just accept that they cannot challenge the government and think about something else instead, not let it bother them. Personally, I think it is shocking that the Singapore government can try something like this - it is one thing to try to block certain websites, but to try to control what people write about the government? They couldn't even do that back in East Germany - people still somehow manage to find a way to organize themselves, express their dissent and that led to activities which brought down the Berlin Wall! This was East Germany way back in 1989 and people still found a way.

Michelle, 45, Female

I work in PR and there's a huge difference between saying to the press, "you can't write negative things about me, I will make it illegal for you to do so" and actually being so good you inspire journalists to write positive things about you. Have you seen the way the news is reported in North Korea? They have nothing but the most wonderful things to say about the regime there - but that's North Korea for you, if you dare to say anything bad about the government, then you'll be killed. So yeah, it can be done - you can have a North Korean style media that will say only wonderful things about the government in the news, but note: the international press still thinks of Kim Jong Un as a madman and often treat him like a joke. Despite still being the world's most brainwashed nation, North Koreans still somehow manage to find out the truth about the state their country. The only reason why they are not able to voice their anger against the government is the threat of death or being interned in labour camps.

So in Singapore, they want a North Korean style media which only reports good news - yet they're not able to stop Singaporeans from accessing news from abroad, how is that going to work? Even in North Korea, they just have to try to stop North Koreans from accessing the media from South Korea - which isn't hard as they are one of the world's poorest countries - few people have phones and reliable electricity there. The internet as we know it is non-existent in North Korea. Singaporeans in contrast are rich, have every internet gadget under the sun and most of all, are mostly English-speaking so are able to access what the rest of the world is saying about Singapore.

If the Singapore government really hasn't thought this through have they? They are but a small country and Singaporeans will be accessing media content from outside Singapore given that the majority of the news on the internet is in English. So even if you can censor what is written locally - so what? You can't censor what is written abroad and that is still going to be read by local Singaporeans who want the truth. Short of unplugging Singapore from the internet altogether, sending Singapore back into the pre-internet dark ages and replacing it with a North Korean style Kwangmyong intranet system, this is a war on censorship they cannot win.

Brenda, 50, Female

In the UK, the press gets to say what they like about the politicians - we have comedians making fun of everyone from the prime ministers to the Queen to any public figure out there on prime time TV. That is a good thing, because the politicians know that if they do something wrong, something stupid or disgraceful, then they will be crucified by the media, they will become fodder for the comedians to take the piss out of during a prime time TV programme like Mock The Week or Have I Got News For You. If politicians get caught doing something wrong, there's nowhere to hide.

If you create a situation where the press cannot print or report anything negative about the government, then you create a consequence free environment where the government get to mess up, become corrupt, make huge mistakes and then sweep it all under the carpet because the press is not allowed to write anything negative about those shambolic failures. The Singapore government would certainly benefit from this as this means they can get away with a lot more and not worry about public opinion, but this makes them far less accountable to their citizens by the same token. Is Singapore a democracy? Really? Well, this sounds like a very undemocratic move towards totalitarianism.

Christine, 33, Female

What's changed? Didn't Singapore always have a very oppressive regime? So it's business as usual for Singapore then. I guess the government gets away with this because they are able to sustain strong economic growth and there is prosperity, so Singaporeans just accept this as part of living in Singapore. It shall be interesting to see if the people continue to accept this kind of censorship controls if their economy is no longer as strong and people start feeling the pain from a recession. What would it take for Singaporeans to bravely take to the streets to protest like they are doing in Turkey right now? Would Singaporeans ever learn to stand up for their rights?

Follow up: http://limpehft.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/mda-wants-to-expand-broadcast-act-next.html