The Singapore government, under Section 11 of its “Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act of 2019 (POFMA), has demanded that under legal obligations imposed by the powers of POFMA, Asia Sentinel post a correction of our May 24 story titled
Excellent reporting AS! Keep up the good work. Singapore’s government is quite clearly party to anything but a democracy repeatedly violating the democratic process through intimidation. Karma will be maintained for PAP at some stage to the betterment of democracy and Singapore.
Thank you Asia Sentinel for standing up to the SG government's bullying attempt with POFMA. The credibility of this news site and the journalists that write in it are much more ironclad and internationally recognised than any government spokesperson or journalist originating from SG state media (ranked 139 out of 180 countries by Reporters Without Frontiers in 2022, and 160 out of 180 in 2021).
There is no obligation for a publisher outside Singapore to obey censorship laws and orders from the Singapore dictatorship.
The Singapore government will start banning Singaporean Internet access to your website next. This is all they can do and for the editor, you will be arrested for POFMA offences if you stop over in Singapore.
-Alex Tan from the now defunct States Times Review.
No surprises that the regime have now blocked AS in Singapore, but already citizens are saying they will get VPN and others will also share when stories are posted by AS.
The regime want to force people to believe their truth and those tactics are wearing very thin. Keep up the good work John and don't let the bastards keep you down. They may believe that they have won this fight, but they certainly haven't won the war. The dirt will keep getting exposed.
From what I understand, the geoblocking order was indeed given out by MCI and MHA, but in reality its execution depends on which ISP a Singaporean internet user is using. Some service providers do block, some don't. I don't know why there's this "differentiation". But it is ultimately a performative block anyway in the era of VPNs, and if you directly subscribe to Asia Sentinel you get new articles straight into your email inbox which the SG government can never block.
That is just Asia Sentinel giving the SG government the courtesy of having a right to be heard.
Posting the correction notice is no indication of acceptance of the SG government's narrative and attempts at silencing Asia Sentinel with a fake news law that is unrecognised and incomprehensible to anybody outside of its borders who know even a modicum of what constitutes freedom of speech/freedom of the press.
No government gets to be the sole arbiter of what it determines to be the "truth".
Excellent reporting AS! Keep up the good work. Singapore’s government is quite clearly party to anything but a democracy repeatedly violating the democratic process through intimidation. Karma will be maintained for PAP at some stage to the betterment of democracy and Singapore.
Thank you Asia Sentinel for standing up to the SG government's bullying attempt with POFMA. The credibility of this news site and the journalists that write in it are much more ironclad and internationally recognised than any government spokesperson or journalist originating from SG state media (ranked 139 out of 180 countries by Reporters Without Frontiers in 2022, and 160 out of 180 in 2021).
FEER déjà vu all over again :)
Expose the hypocrisy of this authoritarian regime.. they've had it good too long.
Singapore government has started blocking access to AS as of 2/6/2023, but as usual they didn’t take into account of something called a “VPN”.
Thank you AS for standing up to the SG Government’s bullying and bringing light and spreading to the world on the state of press freedom in Singapore.
Singapore governing party, PAP has been using POFMA to silence any critics of PAP or its laws and regulations.
There is a saying among the younger generation of Singaporeans, “We are a first world North Korea, disguised as a democratic country”.
Thank you AS. Keep on with the excellent reporting.
There is no obligation for a publisher outside Singapore to obey censorship laws and orders from the Singapore dictatorship.
The Singapore government will start banning Singaporean Internet access to your website next. This is all they can do and for the editor, you will be arrested for POFMA offences if you stop over in Singapore.
-Alex Tan from the now defunct States Times Review.
No surprises that the regime have now blocked AS in Singapore, but already citizens are saying they will get VPN and others will also share when stories are posted by AS.
The regime want to force people to believe their truth and those tactics are wearing very thin. Keep up the good work John and don't let the bastards keep you down. They may believe that they have won this fight, but they certainly haven't won the war. The dirt will keep getting exposed.
As of today June 3 2023 6.10am there is no blockage to accessing Asia Sentinel in Singapore. Perhaps they have a change of heart.
From what I understand, the geoblocking order was indeed given out by MCI and MHA, but in reality its execution depends on which ISP a Singaporean internet user is using. Some service providers do block, some don't. I don't know why there's this "differentiation". But it is ultimately a performative block anyway in the era of VPNs, and if you directly subscribe to Asia Sentinel you get new articles straight into your email inbox which the SG government can never block.
If you weren't fearful of their legal threats you shouldn't have posted the correction notice, right?
That is just Asia Sentinel giving the SG government the courtesy of having a right to be heard.
Posting the correction notice is no indication of acceptance of the SG government's narrative and attempts at silencing Asia Sentinel with a fake news law that is unrecognised and incomprehensible to anybody outside of its borders who know even a modicum of what constitutes freedom of speech/freedom of the press.
No government gets to be the sole arbiter of what it determines to be the "truth".