Digital Media Censorship in Singapore - Sites - Anglo
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Transcript Digital Media Censorship in Singapore - Sites - Anglo
Digital Media Censorship in
Singapore
An Individualized Study Options Project
by Wesley Phay Chun Wah
Anglo-Chinese School (Independent)
Project Scope
Introduction to Project
Objectives of the Project
Research Study
Survey Questionnaire
Analysis of Survey Results
Conclusion
Introduction to Project:
What is Digital Media Censorship?
The MICA censors
inappropriate media
Digital media refers to
websites, digital
videos/images, blogs,
podcasts, etc.
Undesirable content
include: pornography,
racial discrimination,
politically provocative
media, blood and gore
Introduction to Project (continued)
Censorship can be for a variety of reasons
Local ISPs block high-profile sites such as
Playboy, but very few sites are blacklisted
For example, 2 bloggers were jailed for
posting racist comments on blogs
Singaporean government also censors
politically provocative media, such as
Singapore Rebel by Martyn See
Objectives of the Project
3 Main Objectives
To find out more about Singapore
government’s stand on digital media
censorship
To find out what Year 2 Anglo-Chinese School
(Independent) students think about digital
media censorship
Raise awareness about the importance of
digital media censorship and educate
internet-users about the laws pertaining
censorship
Research Study
Research shows that MICA allows internet
users to view digital content at their own
discretion
However, distribution or online publication
of undesirable digital media is punishable
by the law
Some Singaporeans feel that freedom of
speech should be allowed
Survey
I distributed about 100 survey forms and
received 81 responses
Respondents are all Year 2 students of
Anglo-Chinese School (Independent)
Thus survey only finds the opinion of
extremely narrow category of people
Questionnaire
Multiple-Choice Questions (from 1 – 8)
Are you aware of the current state of digital media censorship in
Singapore?
Is Singapore’s stand on digital media too harsh/strict?
Should Singaporeans have the right to view any digital media
that they want?
Should pornographic media be censored?
Should violence/gore in digital media be censored?
Should politically provocative media be censored?
Should racist/discriminative media be censored?
Should blogs with unsavoury content be censored?
Open-ended Question
What do you think about the general state of digital media
censorship in Singapore? (e.g. stringency, censorship standards)
Survey Results
Media Censorship in Singapore: Survey Results
100%
Percentage of Respondents
(Sample size: 81)
5
7
11
90%
9
9
14
17
24
8
7
80%
5
15
70%
16
60%
12
15
30
15
15
17
15
50%
18
22
20
26
17
18
40%
26
21
17
30%
9
37
20%
27
24
18
10%
11
27
11
15
12
6
0%
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Question Number
Strongly Agree
Agree
Neutral
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
8
Analysis of Survey Results
There is a need to increase awareness about the guidelines of
digital media censorship
About 43% felt that Singapore’s censorship is too strict, however
about 37% were neutral and 20% felt that Singapore’s current
censorship is acceptable
A majority 64% felt that they deserved the right to view any digital
media that they want
However, many respondents still felt that pornography and racist
remarks should be censored
A large 32% were undecided whether blogs with unsavoury content
should be censored or not
About 50% felt that violence and politically provocative media should
not be censored
Overall, according to statistics and open-ended responses,
respondents felt that digital media censorship in Singapore is too
strict.
Conclusion
There is a need to raise awareness about
digital media censorship
to prevent errant internet users from getting
into trouble with the law
Respondents felt that the censorship
standards were too strict
need more freedom of speech
The End
Thank you for listening.
Time for the Q&A session.