IP: Singapore Global Action Alert (8/29/96)

[Dave Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

August 29, 1996




                          *** GLOBAL ACTION BRIEF ***




*       Please redistribute this document widely with this banner intact


*       Redistribute only in appropriate places & only until 30 September 


1996




Singapore Government Curtails Online Freedoms




The government of Singapore recently established strict controls on all


Internet Service Providers and many World Wide Web pages. ISPs and


content


providers will be licensed, and required to adhere to a rigid set of


content


guidelines which apply to political speech, ethnic and religious 


remarks


including satire, and public morals including "contents which propagate


permissiveness or promiscuity."




We believe that the licensing policy and broad content guidelines will


effectively chill the free flow of information not only in Singapore,


but


worldwide.  Because the Internet is global, transcending geographical


bounds, we are convinced that censorship within any nation or state,


whether


implicit or explicit, poses a threat to all users of the global network. 


We


therefore encourage the government of Singapore, and other governments


implementing or considering policies of content control, to stress


education


rather than regulation.




Singapore's approach, like the Communications Decency Act that was


passed


but quickly rescinded in the U.S., applies a broadcast regulatory


standard


to the Internet.




The application of broadcast-inspired, "one-to-many" regulation to this


new


*many-to-many* medium indicates a fundamental misunderstanding of the


nature


of the Internet.




Unlike television and radio broadcasting, the Internet does not push


material at the viewer, but simply makes material available on demand -


not


unlike a rapid inter-library loan.  And unlike broadcasting, the


Internet


does not present the views of a limited few privileged speakers, but


allows


all participants to publish, comment on, and even refute, what they


read.




Recognizing that every culture has its own standards regarding what is or


is


not appropriate, the undersigned organizations recommend that


Singapore's


government allow its citizens to use Internet filtering  tools, with


which


they can block out any material that is offensive to them, rather than


embark upon a closed-border approach that will cut Singapore off from


the


new global online library.




Support of individually customizable filtration services, instead of a


broad


top-down censorship effort, would enable Singapore to participate in a 


more


positive and effective way in the evolution of this new open medium, 


and


would indicate trust in the ability of Singaporeans to choose what is


right


for Singapore and for themselves.




***




WHERE TO FIND MORE INFORMATION




For more information on the Singapore censorship situation, and other


global


efforts to abridge the flow of information over the net, see these web


sites:




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Human Rights Watch's letter to George Yeo, Singapore Minister for


Information and the arts, is located on HRW's gopher, at


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WHO TO CONTACT




The following organizations have issued this advisory:




ALCEI - Electronic Frontiers Italy * 


   http://www.nexus.it/alcei.html


American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) *


   http://www.aclu.org


Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) *


   http://www.cdt.org


CITADEL-Electronic Frontier France * 


   http://www.imaginet.fr/~mose/citadel


EFF-Austin * 


   http://www.eff-austin.org


Electronic Frontiers Australia * 


   http://www.efa.org.au


Electronic Frontier Canada * 


   http://www.efc.ca/


Elektronisk Forpost Norge (Electronic Frontier  Norway) * 


   http://www.sn.no/~efn


Electronic Frontier Foundation * 


   http://www.eff.org


Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) *


   http://www.epic.org


HotWired * 


   http://www.hotwired.com


Voters Telecommunication Watch (VTW) * 


   http://www.vtw.org




Please choose an organization above and visit their web site for 


contact


information.




A copy of this advisory is available on the World Wide Web, at


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0,ffff</param>http://www.well.com/~jonl/singapore.html.


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