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Censorship in Singapore mainly targets political, racial, religious issues and homosexual content as defined byout-of-bounds markers.
TheInfocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) approves publications, issues arts entertainment licences and enforces the Free-to-air (FTA) TV Programme Code, Subscription TV Programme Code, TV Advertising Code, Radio Programme Code and Radio Advertising Code through financial penalties.[1] The MDA's decisions may be appealed to the Broadcast, Publications and Arts Appeal Committee (BPAA)[2] and the Films Appeal Committee (FAC).[3]The Censorship Review Committee (CRC) meets every ten years to "review and update censorship objectives and principles to meet the long-term interests of our society".[4] The CRC was most recently reconvened in 2009 and made some 80 recommendations the following year, most of which were accepted.[5]
The government of Singapore argues that censorship of political, racial, religious and homosexuality issues to a certain extent is necessary to avoid upsetting the delicate balance of Singapore's multi-racial society.
The importing, making, distributing or exhibiting of films in Singapore is governed by the Films Act of 1981.[6]Films for commercial release are presented to the IMDA which classifies the films under six differentratings for different groups of audiences:
In April 2008, 4 documentaries were banned at theSingapore International Film Festival. Two of them titledArabs and Terrorism andDavid the Tolhildan were "disallowed on the account of the sympathetic portrayal of organizations deemed terrorist organizations by many countries," according to the Board of Film Censors chairman.[7]A Jihad for Love, which concerned homosexuals living within Muslim communities, was banned because of the "sensitive nature of the subject." Lastly, the documentaryBakushi was blacklisted because its topic of bondage "normalizes unnatural fetishes and behaviour."[8]
In September 2014, Singaporean filmmakerTan Pin Pin's documentary aboutCommunist Party of Malaya (CPM) political exiles,To Singapore, With Love (2013), received anNAR rating, with the MDA claiming that it undermined national security as "the individuals in the film have given distorted and untruthful accounts of how they came to leave Singapore and remain outside Singapore," and that "a number of these self-professed 'exiles' were members of, or had provided support to, the proscribed CPM."[9]The controversial Section 33 of the Films Act bans of the making, distribution and exhibition of "party political films", at pain of a fine not exceeding $100,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years. The Act further defines a "party political film" as any film or video
Since March 2009, the Films Act has been amended to allow party political films as long as they were deemed factual and objective by a consultative committee. Some months later, this committee lifted the ban on Singapore Rebel.[10]
In 1963, Singapore banned the hit songPuff, the Magic Dragon, fearing that it referenced marijuana.[11]Janet Jackson's albumsVelvet Rope andAll For You were also banned due to homosexual and sexually explicit themes that the BPAA found "not acceptable to our society".[11] The bans have since been lifted.Katy Perry's hit single,I Kissed a Girl, was banned from the airwaves as its lyrics that described homosexuality violated the Free-To-Air Radio Programme Code.
On 14 April 2008, theInfo-communications Media Development Authority announced that an official video games classification system will be in effect on 28 April 2008.[12] No cuts are stipulated to Approved titles. Under the system, video games that contain stronger content such as graphic sex/nudity, strong coarse language, drug use, graphic violence/gore and mature themes will be given either anADV16 rating label or use/share theM18 rating label used for film classification similar to those found on home video media in Singapore.
Examples:Mario Party 10,The Lego Movie Videogame, andAngry Birds
Examples:Mass Effect 2,Assassin's Creed II,Resident Evil 5,Left 4 Dead, andHitman: Blood Money
Examples:Kingpin: Life of Crime,Yakuza 3,Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures,Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2,Grand Theft Auto III, andManhunt 2
A video game, in the most extreme cases, may be refused classification when the game contains content that exceeds acceptable social standards and could be potentially harmful to society. The purchase of M18 rated games legally require retailers to conduct age checks, while ADV16 rated games are not required to have mandatory age checks. Previously, theMedia Development Authority had also banned several video games before the introduction of the classification system. For example, (as of November 2007) the video gameThe Darkness (due to presence of graphic violence and swear words) and more recentlyMass Effect fromBioWare due to the in game option of a homosexual romance if the player chooses to play as a female. Mass Effect was later unbanned with the implementation of the aforementioned games ratings system that was still in development then. However, similar games with graphic violence such as Prince of Persia and Gears of War (players can perform decapitation moves) or other BioWare games likeNeverwinter Nights andJade Empire (which both allow the possibility of male-male and female-female romances) have not been banned or censored.
The scripts of all plays to be performed in Singapore must be vetted in advance by theMedia Development Authority (MDA), which has the right to ban any it views as "contrary to the public interest". Appeals against MDA's decisions can be made to the Broadcast, Publications and Arts Appeal Committee (BPAA).[2]In 1994, performance artist Josef Ng protested the arrest and caning of 12 homosexual men by caning slabs of tofu, then turning his back to the audience and snipping off some pubic hair. He was charged with committing an obscene act and banned from performing in public, and his theatre group's grants were cancelled.[13]
In 2005, the MDA withheld the licence for the playHuman Lefts byBenny Lim andBrian Gothong Tan unless some scenes were edited and all references to the death penalty removed. The play was originally written about the hanging ofShanmugam Murugesu and was to have been staged one day after the controversial execution of Australian nationalNguyen Tuong Van.[14]
In August 2006, a playSmegma was banned byMedia Development Authority which said that: "the play portrays Muslims in a negative light."[15]
In May 2010, the National Arts Council had cut the annual grant given to local theatre companyW!LD RICE. It will get $170,000 this year, down from $190,000 the year before. It is the lowest annual grant that the company has received from the council. Artistic directorIvan Heng says the council told him funding was cut because its productions promoted alternative lifestyles, were critical of government policies and satirised political leaders. In March 2011, NAC increased to $1.92 million, a 25% hike, the amount to be given to 16 arts companies, including W!LD RICE, under its one-year Major Grant scheme.[16]
In 2016,Chan Heng Chee, chairman of theNational Arts Council (NAC), spoke on the issue of censorship and arts funding at theSingapore International Film Festival.[17]Jee Leong Koh, a Singaporean poet, responded on the relationship between censorship and funding from the government via the NAC, and decided not to engage with the government for future funding.[17] Koh subsequently called on fellow Singaporean artists to "reconsidering engagement with the state and its arts funding...".[17] His reaction drew mixed responses from Singaporean artists.[17]
The state-owned MediaCorp controls all free-to-air terrestrial local TV channels licensed to broadcast in Singapore, as well as 14 radio channels. Both free-to-air and pay television channels are available on cable and fiber. The popular HBO seriesSex and the City was banned from broadcast originally in the late 90s when the series debuted but the ban was later lifted in 2004 after modifications to the Subscription TV Programme Code of Singapore. Private ownership of satellite dishes is illegal, though international TV broadcasts (such asCNN International,BBC World News,Fox News Channel,RT, etc.) are available on Starhub TV and SingTel IPTV service Singtel TV. TheInfo-communications Media Development Authority, through its Programme Advisory Committees for each of the four official languages,[18] monitors and provides feedback on broadcast content. Permissible content on Singaporean TV is regulated by IMDA'sFree-to-Air Television Programme Code.[19] As of July 2011, Singapore relaxed television broadcast guidelines allowing Pay TV operators to screenNC16,M18 andR21 films containing graphic content and mature/controversial themes on Pay TV Video-on-Demand (VOD) services.[20] In July 2016, the MDA officially greenlit R21-rated content for Over-the-Top (OTT) services.
Internet services provided by the three majorInternet Service Providers (ISPs) are subject to regulation by theInfo-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA), which blocks 100 "symbolic"[21] websites such asPlayboy andYouPorn. Since 8 October 2014, online gambling has been regulated in Singapore.[22]
Government agencies have been known to use or threaten to use litigation against bloggers and other Internet content providers. The first instance of such activity was againstSintercom in July 2001 when the founder, Dr Tan Chong Kee was asked to register the website under the nascent Singapore Broadcast Authority Act (nowMedia Development Authority). Dr Tan chose to shut down Sintercom due to concerns over the ambiguity of the Act. In April 2005, a blogger, Chen Jiahao, then a graduate student at theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was made to apologise and shut down his blog containing criticisms on government agencyA*STAR, after its chairmanPhilip Yeo threatened to sue fordefamation.
In September 2005, 3 people were arrested and charged under theSedition Act for posting racist comments on the Internet. Two were sentenced toimprisonment.[23] Later, the Teachers' Union announced that it is offering legal assistance to teachers who want to take legal action against students who defame them on their blogs, after five students fromSaint Andrew's Junior College were suspended for three days for allegedly "flaming" two teachers and a vice-principal on their blogs.[24]
In the last few years, the government has taken a much tougher stand on Internet-related matters, including censorship. Proposed amendments to thePenal Code intend to hold Internet users liable for "causing public mischief", and give the authorities broader powers in curtailing freedom of speech.[25]In September 2008, US citizen Gopalan Nair was sentenced to 3 months imprisonment for insulting a public servant after he accused a Singapore judge of "prostituting herself" in his blog.[26]
Starting 1 June 2013, the Media Development Authority requires sites "that report regularly on issues relating to Singapore and have significant reach" among website visitors in Singapore to apply for individual licences, which will be subject to annual renewal. These websites must then post a "performance bond" of 50,000 Singapore dollars and remove any objectionable content within 24 hours of receiving a government order.[27] On 14 June 2013, the Asia Internet Coalition voiced their concerns.[28]
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