Singapore bloggers seek withdrawal of news site license scheme

A group of Singapore Bloggers has planned to seek a dialogue with the government for the withdrawal of a new licensing rules for the news websites here.
The bloggers, calling themselves 'Free My Internet', also want Singaporeans to petition their Members of Parliament to oppose the regulations at next month's parliamentary session, The Sunday Times has reported.
The rules require licensed news site to remove prohibited content, which covers anything that is pornographic, in bad taste or racially or religiously offensive, within 24 hours of a government order. It also requires a news site to put up a SGD50,000 performance bond. The rules took effect from June 1, 2013.

Fifteen bloggers from the group addressed a three-hour protest rally, which attracted a crowd of about 2,500 at Speakers' Corner in the Hong Lim Park in the central business district yesterday.
The speakers criticised the Media Development Authority (MDA) of introducing the regulations without public consultation and said the rules lack clarity and curb freedom of expression.
"Why there is a need for MDA to come up with more rules and regulations?", The Sunday Times quoted Richard Wan, Editor of an online news-site TR Emeritus.
"Who is to say that a future government won't exploit these flimsy and arbitrary rules to protect its political interests," said Blogger Visakan Veerasamy, who was concerned about the possible abuse of the rules.

'Free My Internet' has collected 4,000 signatures through online petition since the rules came into effect on June 1. Last Thursday, more than 150 sites took part in a 24-hour online blackout, featuring a black page with the words: 'Free My Internet'.