Tech Talk: Cracking the Whip

AN STYLE="font-size: 75%; color:#990000; font-weight:bold">Tuesday, June. 12, 2001 The Internet was supposed to liberate, right? Well, that's what many Singaporeans thought, until this week when their control-minded government proposed plans to slap new regulations on what could be said online.

Singaporeans have some of Asia's fastest access to the Net, which is great if you want to be a B2B (business to business) king. It also has some of the regions more pointed political chat rooms -- which is not so great if you are the long-ruling People's Action Party (PAP). And the chat rooms have been pretty active since the weekend, when Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong signaled the government's intent to consider new regulations before the next general election.

Lee announced the proposed measures, ironically enough, at the launch of the PAP's website, saying that limits were required because of the Net's propensity to spread false information. "Once the story is out, no apology or retraction can track them (errors) all down, especially in the short period of an election campaign," said Lee. With an election due some time in the next year -- the first Singaporean election of the Internet Age -- the crackdown seems a shot across the bows of oppositionists; a move designed to deter online campaigning before much of it gets under way.

The PAP puts much store in the magic number of 60%, which is the percentage floor of the electorate that the party likes to guarantee every election. Less than 60% of Singaporeans voting for the PAP is considered a moral loss of sorts, even though the party controls more than 90% of actual parliamentary seats. A measure of its popularity is how high above 60% of the vote it gets.

It may be possible for the government to crack down on oppositionists campaigning in the flesh, as Singapore is often criticized for doing, but doing it online is another thing again. Said the U.S. State Department in a recent human rights report on Singapore: "The Constitution provides for freedom of speech and expression, but ... in practice the government significantly restricts freedom of speech. Government leaders from time to time have used defamation lawsuits or the threat of such actions to discourage public criticism and intimidate opposition politicians."

The fact is it would be hard even for Singapore's government nerds to quell online dissent. Many of the political sites are hosted outside Singapore and thus beyond the direct reach of authorities. Sure, the government can instruct ISPs (Internet service providers) to deny access to sites it considers contentious, as they do with rather tame sites like Playboy.com (but not with far racier sites). But that's a dangerous image game for a government to play when it is parading itself internationally as a "wired island" and "e-hub." (Even if authorities shut down sites, it takes just a few clicks and a handful of e-mails to get another domain up and running, and eyeballs roaming. It would be an online cat-and-mouse game, where no one really wins.)

The proposed Internet crackdown has Singaporeans agitated. Says "Opin" on the relatively mild Sintercom.org site (which is hosted in Singapore), "They (the PAP) already have the absolutely ridiculous advantage over the opposition through overwhelming use of all available state machinery to win elections, what more do they want?" He adds: "Our government should take a step backwards and start to examine its attitude and character, instead of being so childishly paranoid."

Or this from "Jacobsgoh" on the racier Delphi.com chat room, which spins off the satirical porn site Sammyboy.com: "It's just another game played according to PAP rules, and they change the rules whenever they deem fit. They always justify changes, by saying that the changes will be good for Singapore, whereas in actual fact, all changes are tailor-made so that PAP could rule Singapore (squeeze Singaporeans) better."

In his remarks at the weekend, Lee said at issue were questions like: Should political websites be allowed chat forums? "The way we have conducted politics, we have tried to channel the debate in a serious direction ... because, really, politics is serious business," he added.

And if the activity in the city-state's chat rooms is any indication, quite a number of Singaporeans seem to agree.