Web censorship threatens Singapore's financial status: Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch said yesterday that Singapore was undercutting its status as a financial centre by expanding media censorship to the web. It urged the city-state's government to withdraw the new licensing requirement for online news sites.

Singapore is a major banking and trading hub and many companies have set up their regional headquarters in the city-state because of its relatively low corporate tax rate, strong infrastructure and proximity to Southeast Asia.

Singapore's licensing scheme casts a chill over its "robust and free-wheeling" online communities and will limit Singaporeans' access to independent media, said Cynthia Wong, a researcher at Human Rights Watch.

"Singapore is placing its status as a world-class financial centre at clear risk by extending its record of draconian media censorship to the digital world."

From June 1, websites that regularly report on Singapore must get a licence, putting them on par with newspapers and television news outlets, the Media Development Authority (MDA) said last week.