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?

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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)

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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
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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.