Category: Free Expression – Asia

Withdraw online licensing policy, media groups urge Singapore

mcmangahas Leave a comment

FOUR independent media organizations in Asia on Friday urged the government of Singapore to withdraw its newly issued “draconian” licensing policy for online news websites, citing measure’s “potential to curtail the rights to the freedom of expression and information online.”

In a joint statement, the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA), the Southeast Asian Centre for e-Media (SEACeM), and the Think Centre called the new policy “highly regrettable” in light of already “strict controls” that to this day govern the traditional media in Singapore.

The statement was issued simultaneously from Bangkok, Thailand; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and Singapore, where the four regional media groups are located.

The licensing regime for online news sites was introduced by the Media Development Authority (MDA), an agency under the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) that regulates all types of media in Singapore.

“It is highly regrettable that the authorities have chosen to tighten its grip on online space in a country where traditional media outlets have been subjected to strict controls like the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act (NPPA) and consistently perform poorly in press freedom rankings,” the statement said.

“We question the necessity or merits of the licensing framework at this juncture, especially since the MDA has stated that there are no expected changes to the content standards governing websites,” the groups added.

“We also deplore the seeming haste and secrecy at which the regulations came into force in the absence of any public consultations or debate in Parliament.”

The licensing framework that took effect June 1, 2013 covers news websites that publish one article that reports on Singapore news every week and that draw 50000 unique visitors every month.

The MDA made an announcement about the new policy on May 28, 2013, and the regulation came into force three days later.

The policy requires the covered online news sites to secure “individual licenses, including posting (and forfeiture) of monetary bonds and an annual review of licenses.”

The media groups averred that, “under the new regime, operators of news sites which defy the authorities’ order to apply for a license could face a fine of up to SGD200,000 or a maximum jail term of three years or both.”

While the MDA has clarified that personal blogs are currently exempted from the licensing conditions, the groups lamented that the policy “does not safeguard against the thinly veiled threat” that “if they take on the nature of news sites, we will take a closer look and evaluate them accordingly”.

“The requirement of a SGD50,000 performance bond could still mean that independent websites such as citizen and community-run platforms are compelled to cease operations due to the inability to raise funds,” the statement noted.

The policy also imposes a 24-hour takedown rule for “objectionable”
content on websites, which also applies even to comments made by readers. This, the startement said, “gives the MDA censorship powers over licensed websites.”

In addition, the media groups stated, “we are further alarmed that liability for sanctions extend to similar content carried in mirrors or other websites.”

“Worryingly, there is a conspicuous absence of any mention of oversight or recourse mechanisms against any abuse of the law. Such unfettered discretionary powers grant the authorities broad latitude to suppress free speech online on the vague grounds of public interest, morality, order and security, among others,” the statement said.

According to the media groups, the regulatory measures “undoubtedly create a chilling effect and have the potential to shrink the democratizing potential of popular online platforms Singapore.”

Such attempts are not unprecedented in Singapore, the media groups said.

In 2011, the government gazetted socio-political commentary website The Online Citizen as a “political association”.

This year, bloggers and website owners have variously been threatened with defamation suits, served with takedown notices and made to issue public apologies, the groups reported.

The Minister of Communication has also stated that the Broadcasting Act would be amended next year to include overseas news websites reporting on Singapore as well.

“We would like to assert that the media in general should be kept free from state control, and that self-regulation by the media should be the starting point of any official policy, in order to fully realize the right to freedom of expression and opinion,” the statement added.

“We remind the Singapore government that keeping the internet free is crucial to promoting and protecting the right to the freedom of expression and opinion, which, under international human rights law, includes the freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

The media groups called on the government of Singapore to “withdraw the draconian licensing framework for online news sites,” adding that “any mechanism to address alleged objectionable online content must be dealt with on a case-case-to case basis, through a fair and transparent process with judicial oversight instead of extending the discretionary powers of executive or quasi-government bodies.”

Singapore is ranked 153 (Not Free) in Freedom House’s Freedom of the Press 2013 report and 149th out of 179 countries in the 2013 Press Freedom Index of Reporters Without Borders.

Malawi Parliament security chief jailed for punching female reporter

mcmangahas Leave a comment

HERE’S how Malawi deals with assaults against journalists — in ways much better and faster than Philippine courts and officials do.

The chief security officer of the Parliament of Malawi who had earlier assaulted a female photojournalist spent the weekend behind bars following his arrest on June 1, on orders of a magistrate, according to an alerts report of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA).

MISA, citing news reports, said the security officer, Youngson Chilinda, punched female photojournalist Thoko Chikondi several times and barred her from doing her professional duties on May 30, 2013 at the parliament building.

UPDATE:

The Lilongwe Magistrate Court on Tuesday, June 4, granted bail to Chilinda, who pleaded not guilty to the charge and denied assaulting Chikondi.

After pointing out that the prosecuting team had failed to sufficiently prove that Chilinda would interfere with investigations if released on bail, Magistrate Ernest Chimwembe set bail at MK10,000 (approximately US$30), ordered Chilinda to surrender his passport and to report to the nearest police station to his house every Monday.

A trial date will be set in due course.

MISA said the security officer assaulted Chikondi as she was taking photos of a consumer rights advocate, John Kapito, who had just presented a petition to the national assembly.

“Apparently thinking that it was him who was being photographed, Chilinda claimed the photojournalist had not first sought his permission and he proceeded to assault her,” MISA said.

“Chikondi, who reports for one of Malawi’s biggest newspaper companies, Nation Publications Limited (NPL), sustained bruises on the back as well as soft tissue damage and was treated at Kamuzu Central Hospital,” it added.

Chilinda, a former soldier, reportedly appeared before Lilongwe Magistrate Ernest Chimwembe on Monday, June 3, and denied the charge of “assault occasioning bodily harm”. His bail ruling was scheduled for Tuesday, 4 June 2013 at 14:00hrs (Central African Time).

Chikondi told MISA that she was “feeling much better” and “had been overwhelmed by the support received from family, friends, NPL management and media freedom activists.” She also said the assault on her had strengthened her resolve to remain in photojournalism, MISA reported.

“I was at Parliament today and, of course, it was a bit different for me. However, I don’t have any second thoughts about the work I do and I’ll continue being a photojournalist. In a way, the whole experience has made me even more determined,” Chikondi said.

A landlocked nation of 14.9 million people and formerly known as Nyasaland, Malawi is bordered by Zambia on the northwest, Tanzania on the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west.

One of the world’s least developed nations, Malawi gained independence from British colonial rule in 1964, came under the strongman rule for 30 years beginning 1970, and held its first free multiparty elections in 1994. Like the Philippines, the Republic of Malawi now has a democratic, multiparty government with three branches — executive, legislative, and judiciary. Joyce Banda, Malawi’s first female president, came to power after president Bingu wa Mutharika died in 2012.

MISA, on the other hand, is the primary advocate for media freedom and freedom of expression in southern Africa. Its founding was triggered by the Windhoek Declaration on Promoting Independent and Pluralistic Media in Africa of 1991, according to its official website, www.misa.org.

The MISA Education and Production Trust was registered on 12 October 1994 in Windhoek, Namibia, by a group of activist media practitioners “to promote and strengthen a pluralistic and independent media in Southern Africa as a pillar of the democratic process.”

MISA was formed against the backdrop of media violations and harassment of journalists by governments in the region. It operates as a regional program with national chapters forming its membership in 11 southern African countries.

SEAPA hails Thai court ruling on death of Italian photojourn

mcmangahas Leave a comment

THE SOUTHEAST ASIAN PRESS ALLIANCE (SEAPA) on Monday welcomed the precedent-setting inquest ruling of a Bangkok Criminal Court finding Thai security forces responsible for the death of Italian photojournalist Fabio Polenghi, during a crackdown by state forces on red-shirt protesters in Bangkok on 19 May 2010.

The court ruling issued on May 29, Friday, is an important step “in addressing the impunity by the state on violence against media workers, and not only in Thailand,” SEAPA said in a press statement.

A regional network of independent media organizations, SEAPA said the ruling came after over three years of tumultuous investigations through the administrations of two prime ministers, Abhisit Vejajiva and Yingluck Shinawatra. The ruling in effect certified the result of inquiries by the police and the Department of Special Investigation, SEAPA said.

“The credibility of the process was constantly challenged not only by the continuing high tensions in politics, but also the institutional difficulties associated with obtaining cooperation from the armed forces and other authorities in accessing evidence to uncover the truth,” SEAPA said.

Although the court failed to pinpoint the army personnel responsible for firing the bullet that killed Polenghi, SEAPA said “it identified the only military unit located in the area at the time was the Second Cavalry Division, King’s Guard.”

“The inquest finding represents a rare landmark in the judicial process, thanks to relentless efforts of Polenghi’s family and persistent pressure from the international media community,” it added.

SEAPA said it hopes “that this judicial process can be sustained with a momentum than can bring those responsible to Polenghi’s death to justice, through a fair process that should also be applied to other pending cases, including Japanese photographer Hiroyuki Muramoto and those which do not involve members of the media.”

Polenghi and Muramoto were among some 90 people killed during the protracted military-police operation to end the political protests. Several others including local and foreign journalists were also wounded in the various violent incidents between April and May 2010.

Nonetheless, SEAPA said it is aware of “the continuing threats to achieving justice for victims of violence, including the proposed amnesty bills currently being discussed by both government and opposition parties.”

“At the very least, any form of political amnesty should not be pursued at the expense of uncovering the truth and determining culpability for crimes,”it stressed.

SEAPA has since 2011 highlighted the cases of Polenghi and Muramoto as among the priority examples of cases of impunity in the killing of journalists in the region that deserve urgent redress by the states concerned.

“Impunity,” SEAPA said, “is a chronic failure by states, judiciary and law enforcement agencies to bring perpetrators to justice. It amplifies the damage to the deaths involved since it encourages more killing when perpetrators are not held accountable for their crimes.”

In the past five years violence against media workers in Southeast Asia has worsened, following a global trend, “largely due to the failure by governments in the region to uphold the rule of law.”

The PCIJ is a founding member of SEAPA, together with the Thai Journalists Association (TJA), Alliance of Independent Journalists of Indonesia (AJI), Institute for the Study of Free Flow of Information (ISAI) of Indonesia, and the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) of the Philippines.

The Center for Independent Journalism (CIJ) of Malaysia is also a SEAPA member, while independent media groups in Myanmar, Timor-Leste, Cambodia, and Vietnam are SEAPA partners.

Singapore places online media under strict licensing regime

mcmangahas Leave a comment

A NEW LICENSING SCHEME for online news in Singapore as triggered a tragic result: it is effectively extending the country’s strict regulation of news and public affairs information to its relatively freer online news media.

Singapore media on Monday, 28 May, reported that a fact sheet posted on the website of the Media Development Authority (MDA), announced that all online news media in the city state will henceforth come under a licensing regime.

In a statement, the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) noted that the MDA fact sheet explained that the new scheme gives online news media “a more consistent regulatory framework traditional news platforms” and “provides greater clarity on prevailing requirements” of the Singapore Broadcasting Act’s class license for internet service and content providers, and the Internet Code of Conduct.

SEAPA, a regional network of independent media organizations in the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia that includes the PCIJ as a founding member, noted though that the full text of the new online news licensing system had not yet been posted in the MDA website’s section on licenses as of Friday, 31 May, even as it is supposed to take effect beginning today, 1 June.

SEAPA reported that “Initially 10 news sites, including nine from mainstream media groups, have been listed as initial targets for licensing notifications from the MDA.”

The licensing system, SEAPA said, will cover all news websites that post “at least one article per week on Singapore’s news and current affairs” and “are visited by at least 50,000 unique IP [internet protocol] addresses” each month.

According to SEAPA, news platforms requiring licensing include those which provide “any news, intelligence, report of occurrence, or any matter of public interest, about any social, economic, political, cultural, artistic, sporting, scientific or any other aspect of Singapore in any language (whether paid or free and whether at regular interval or otherwise) but does not include any programme produced by or on behalf of the Government.”

“Presently, news sites are automatically licensed under the Broadcasting Act, with some groups required to register, including internet service providers, political parties, and individuals and groups providing programs on political and religious concerns in Singapore,” SEAPA said.

Under the new scheme, SEAPA added that the sites that fall within the two criteria will have to put up a performance bond of 50,000 SGD (about 40,000 USD) for an individual license.

However, “it is not clear if the scheme will require licensees to pay annual fees or how it will apply to popular news content providers from overseas meeting the criteria.”

Based on the fact sheet, SEAPA noted that, “licensing will require online news sites to obey MDA’s directives to remove content within 24 hours if found to be in breach of content standards of Singapore.”

“The new license thus adds a degree of enforceability to the country’s Internet Code of Practice, which up to this point directed the content or service providers to use ‘best efforts to ensure that prohibited material is not broadcast via the Internet’,” SEAPA said.

Nonetheless, “the fact sheet did not clarify what due process guarantees exist, such as the role of judicial oversight, to protect possible infringements on the right to freedom of expression.”

SEAPA executive director Gayathry Venkiteswaran described the introduction of the online news licensing system as a “dangerous development which will further restrict press freedom in Singapore.”

Gayathry added that “Singapore authorities are likely targeting the alternative media in Singapore, which remains a vibrant space for news and views that are restricted in mainstream print and broadcast outlets.”

Singapore’s alternative media exists primarily online, she explained, since the mainstream media in the country is strictly regulated under the Newspapers and Printing Presses Act.

The country’s community of socio-political websites released a joint statement voicing concerns “about the impact of the newly-introduced requirement on fellow Singaporeans’ ability to receive diverse news information.”

Gayathry echoed concerns raised by the online community in Singapore that the new licensing scheme will unfairly affect voluntary and community-run websites, and the new system was introduced without public consultation.

SEAPA is the only regional organization with the specific mandate of promoting and protecting press freedom in Southeast Asia.

It is composed of the Jakarta-based Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) and the Institute for Studies on the Free Flow of Information (ISAI); the Manila-based Center for Media Freedom andResponsibility (CMFR) and Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ); the Bangkok-based Thai Journalists Association (TJA); and the network’s Kuala Lumpur-based associate member, the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ).

SEAPA also has partners in Cambodia, East Timor, and exiled Burmese media, and undertakes projects and programs for press freedom throughout the region.

Journalists shot, attacked in Malawi, S Africa, Zambia

mcmangahas Leave a comment

JOURNALISTS in Malawi, South Africa, and Zambia were beaten up, shot, and assaulted by security forces in separate incidents this past week, according a report by the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA).

A nongovernment organization focused on the promotion of free, independent and pluralistic media, freedom of expression, and media development. MISA runs programs for journalists and photojournalists in countries of Southern African. Its report follows:

In MALAWI:

On Thursday, 30 May 2013 Malawian photojournalist Thoko Chikondi was punched several times by the chief parliamentary security officer at the parliament building as she went about her duties, photographing a consumer rights advocate, John Kapito, who had just presented a petition to the national assembly.

However, the chief security officer, identified as Youngson Chilinda, accused her of taking pictures without permission. An image, which appears on the front page of today’s (31 May) The Daily Times shows Chilinda with his fist raised towards the visibly shaken female journalist while pulling her hair with the other hand.

As a result of the assault, the photojournalist sustained bruises on the back and was treated at Kamuzu Central hospital in the capital, Lilongwe. The matter has since been reported to Lingadzi Police Station.

Chilinda is a retired soldier and has previously expressed political aspirations, losing out on a parliamentary seat in the last election in 2009.

The Chairperson of the Malawi Chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA-Malawi) and also MISA Regional Governing Council Chairperson Anthony Kasunda has condemned the assault on the journalist.

“This is uncalled for and regrettable and a great shock to MISA. We strongly request Parliament to investigate and discipline Chilinda. Parliament is a public place and Chikondi had every right to freely gather and report on what was happening at Parliament. Such barbaric acts must stop,” Kasunda said.

At the time of publishing this alert, it was not clear if Chilinda would be arrested.

In SOUTH AFRICA

Photojournalist Motshwari Mofokeng was on Wednesday, 29 May 2013, wounded in the chest when a security guard shot a rubber bullet directly at him. According to the 30 May edition of The Star, the daily newspaper Mofokeng reports for, the incident occurred while he was “covering an eviction of illegal residents living in a building once used as a factory.”

In his own words, Mofokeng was quoted as saying: “I [was] shot in the chest, but (even) before that, I had been slapped twice. The guard had walked away from me as the pain intensified. We don’t know who he is, or what led to the incident. But I’m sure he’ll soon explain himself in a court of law.”

Just before he fell to his knees after being shot, Mofokeng managed to capture the image the security guard shooting directly at him. The image, along with an inset of Mofokeng’s chest wound, appeared on The Star (30 May) front page.

The Star editor, Makhudu Sefara has said his newspaper will “exhaust every possible avenue to ensure that the man who shot Motshwari face the full brunt of the law.”

He added: “Too many photographers have been beaten and even shot in the line of duty recently. Yesterday (Wednesday) they picked the wrong photographer and the wrong newspaper. We intend making an example here and now before one of our colleagues is killed.”

In ZAMBIA

On Saturday, 25 May 2013 Zambia Army personnel roughed up two photojournalists as they tried to capture pictures of dignitaries laying wreaths at the Freedom Statue as part of Zambia’s commemoration of Africa Day.

In an interview with MISA-Zambia, freelance photojournalist Jean Mandela Ndayesega and The Post newspapers photojournalist Salim Dawood, both confirmed being roughed up when they refused to vacate the advantageous position they had stationed themselves at to capture good pictures of the event.

“We tried to reason with them that we want to get good pictures of the event but they would not listen to us and instead roughed us up.” Dawood explained.

In an interview, Zambia Army Public Relations Officer, Colonel Chris Musonda, said that his institution was ready to dialogue with MISA to ensure a conducive media operating environment in Zambia. “We are there for the people and we will be sure to address such matters,” Col. Musonda said.

MISA-Zambia chairperson, Nalumino Nalumino expressed disappointment at the manner in which the two photojournalists were handled by army personnel.

“We wish to appeal to the Zambia Army to orient their officers on how to handle the media during public events because such incidents, if left unchecked, may lead to censorship on the part of the media and reduced access to information on the part of citizens who both the media and the army want to serve,” he said.

MISA Programme Specialist for Media Freedom Monitoring and Research, Levi Kabwato, has described the journalists who came under fire this past week as “brave”.

“They are all brave. The courage they displayed under fire is inspirational and for that we salute them. We are very relieved that none of them was seriously wounded or even lost their life,” Kabwato said.

“Our promise to them, and all the journalists we serve in this region, is that we will continue to work hard in ensuring that the operating environment is not hostile and that journalist’s rights are respected across SADC,” he said.

He added: “We also appeal to public officials and the wider public to familiarize themselves with the role of journalists in society. Some of these attacks wouldn’t occur if there was sufficient understanding of the critical role played by journalists. We further ask all media houses to ensure that their staff have access to medical cover and are equipped with tools and tactics that can enable them to prevent attacks when covering potentially dangerous beats.”