Attached is the letter Human Rights Watch/Asia sent to Singapore yesterday. Kudos to HRW for taking the lead in calling attention to the actions of the censorhappy Singaporeans. More background is at: http://www.eff.org/~declan/global/ Also, you can find an English version of the German telecommunications act at: http://www.government.de/inland/ministerien/post/tkge00.html -Declan --- August 13, 1996 BY FAX: +65-375-7765 Mr. George Yeo Minister for Information and the Arts 460 Alexandra Road, 37th Story PSA Building Singapore 119963 Dear Mr. Yeo, I am writing on behalf of Human Rights Watch/Asia to protest the recent decision by the Singapore government to establish strict controls on Internet use. The implementation of the Class License Scheme, which, according to a July 11 government news release, "will focus on content which may undermine public morals, political stability and religious harmony,"ensures a leading role for Singapore among international promoters of online censorship. This is a particularly unfortunate role for Singapore, which has been a leader in the development and promotion of Internet use in Asia. It places Singapore in the same category as countries like China, where Internet users must endure onerous restrictions. One of the most unique and valuable characteristics of the Internet is its ability to establish easy, inexpensive and practically instantaneous communication between the farthest points of the earth. By prohibiting connections between its citizens and various Web sites outside its borders, Singapore is in essence removing itself from the global Internet. If, as will surely happen, its example is followed in other countries, the Internet, which held such promise as the world's first truly global medium, will be nothing more than a set of country-specific networks where local prejudices and fears are reinforced by technology. Our specific objections concern Singapore's decision to regulate the Internet as if it were a broadcast medium. Unlike broadcast media, the Internet is the first truly mass medium. Through e-mail, it allows individuals with nothing more than a computer and a modem to express their views to an international audience. Even the World Wide Web differs significantly from a broadcast medium in that individuals are not confronted with a particular site upon connecting to the Web--they may choose whichever sites they choose to visit. As with other forms of Internet communication, anyone may put up his or her own site on the Web. The Singapore government's own use of Web pages demonstrates how the Internet can be used to propound a particular point of view. Its citizens, so long as they are not using their site to incite to violence, should have the same opportunity to express views as their government. As stated in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression: this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. We are particularly concerned that restrictions have been placed on Singaporeans who wish to discuss religious and political ideas online. It is only through unrestricted discussions of such serious topics by all members of society, no matter how unpopular their views, that these subjects become less explosive. Forbidding discussion--in effect, treating its citizens like children--will, on the other hand, ensure that dangerous topics remain just that. We are also concerned that the extraordinarily broad categories of forbidden content, as outlined by the SBA, will encourage arbitrary restrictions on communication. According to the Internet Content Guidelines, the following topics are banned. Public Security and National Defense a. Contents which jeopardize public security or national defense. b. Contents which undermine the public confidence in the administration of justice. c. Contents which present information or events in such a way that alarms or misleads all or any of the public. d. Contents which tend to bring the Government into hatred or contempt, or which excite disaffection against the Government. Racial and Religious Harmony a. Contents which denigrate or satirize any racial or religious group. b. Contents which bring any race or religion into hatred or resentment. c. Contents which promote religious deviations or occult practices such as Satanism. Public Morals a. Contents which are pornographic or otherwise obscene. b. Contents which propagate permissiveness or promiscuity. c. Contents which depict or propagate gross exploitation of violence, nudity, sex or horror. d. Contents which depict or propagate sexual perversions such as homosexuality, lesbianism, and pedophilia. By banning such subjects a chill will be sent through the online community in Singapore, and will render the Internet essentially useless in allowing any kind of serious discussion. In addition to forbidding particular content, the government has also announced that some sites will be banned. Internet service providers were given the deadline of September 14, 1996, to begin using proxy servers--devices that can prohibit connections to specified sites--to connect all their subscribers. Although the government has promised to use a light hand in regulating the Internet, its activities even at this early stage indicate otherwise. A July 12 posting in the Usenet newsgroup "soc.culture.singapore" was reportedly removed at the request of the SBA, who asked local Internet service providers for its removal because it alleged that lawyers at a local law firm were incompetent. The request came, according to the Straits Times, after the law firm complained to the government. Despite the removal from the newsgroup, the message is still widely available to Singaporeans through other Internet sources, indicating that content control will be difficult unless Internet access is restricted even further. We hope that the Singapore government will retract these repressive new regulations, and support the development of an unfettered Internet. Instead of using its power to restrict Internet use, the government could play a truly useful role by devising ways to expand its use to even the most disaffected members of its population. Sincerely, Sidney Jones Executive Director cc: Mr. Goh Liang Kwang, Chief Executive Officer, Singapore Broadcasting Authority Ambassador Bilahari Kausikan, Permanent Mission of Singapore to the United Nations