Singapore / Asia

  
Singapore blogger Roy Ngerng addresses a crowd protesting website regulations in June 2013. The blogger faces damages in a defamation suit brought against him by the prime minister. (Reuters/Edgar Su)

Blogger in Singapore faces financial ruin following defamation suit

“If we want our freedom, we have to fight for it,” wrote blogger Roy Ngerng last year after he was sued for defamation by Singapore’s prime minister. The case was sparked by a blog post in which Ngerng allegedly suggested Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had misappropriated funds in a state pension system. In November,…

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Singaporean authorities shut down The Real Singapore news website

Bangkok, May 5, 2015–Singaporean authorities on Sunday ordered an independent news website to be shut down, citing the website’s content as being objectionable to state interests, according to news reports. The Real Singapore is the first news website to be shut down under Singapore’s licensing regulations, introduced in 2013, according to CPJ research.

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Wong Wing-yin, a reporter for Hong Kong's public broadcaster, RTHK, is escorted to safety during a pro-government protest on October 25, 2014, during which three journalists were assaulted. (Reuters/Damir Sagolj)

For clues to censorship in Hong Kong, look to Singapore, not Beijing

When journalists covering pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong on September 28, 2014, got word that protesters were having problems with cell phone service, it appeared to be a familiar response from governments across the world to dissent.

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Amos Yee, a teenage blogger in Singapore, was arrested on Sunday. Here, a still from a video he posted on YouTube in which he criticized Lee Kuan Yew. (YouTube/Boomerang Dog)

Singapore blogger jailed for critical Lee Kuan Yew video

New York, March 30, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the arrest on Sunday of a teenage video blogger in Singapore and calls on authorities to release him immediately.

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Lee Kuan Yew’s legacy

What to make of Singapore’s first and former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who died Monday morning in the city-state? Under the banner of the People’s Action Party, Lee held government power for three decades. After stepping away from the prime minister’s office in 1990, he held positions of senior minister and later “minister mentor”…

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Singapore blogger convicted of contempt of court

New York, January 23, 2015–A Singapore court on Thursday convicted a blogger on contempt of court charges in connection with an article he wrote that was critical of the judiciary, news reports said.

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Blogger Roy Ngerng, shown at a June 2013 protest against licensing regulations on news websites, has been fired from his job in health-care since being accused of defamation by the prime minister. (Reuters/Edgar Su)

In Singapore, blogger under pressure, CPF under scrutiny

A critical Singaporean blogger continues to suffer financial and legal pressure because of a blog post that allegedly accused the city-state’s prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, of corruption. The episode is part of a disturbing pattern of government legal and financial pressure on critics, but it is also a lesson in how censorship can backfire.

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Singapore blogger: ‘I have been waiting’ for government backlash

EDITOR’S NOTE: This week, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong demanded an apology from a critical blogger who has allegedly accused him of corruption. Roy Ngerng Yi Ling, who is also a healthcare worker, has frequently posted critical commentary on the ruling People’s Action Party on his blog, The Heart Truths.

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This screenshot shows Singapore Minister of Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim telling a BBC interviewer that new license regulations will ensure users see the 'right' content online. (BBC)

Singapore bloggers wary of news site license scheme

Singapore’s Internet community is in backlash since the government announced on May 28 a new licensing scheme for “news websites”–a term it did not define–arguing that digital news platforms ought to be regulated on par with offline media. The government said the scheme would take effect June 1.

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Singapore imposes licensing fees on news websites

New York, May 29, 2013–Singapore’s plan to impose licensing fees on news websites will further stifle the press in the city-state’s already claustrophobic media atmosphere, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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