Between two Acts: competing narratives, activism and governance in Singapore’s digital sphere

Abstract

Civil society in Singapore has existed in the interstices of society with frequent instances of conflict with the government. The ruling People’s Action Party government has had a long history of quashing its political opponents, and this same approach has influenced how the government deals with social-political dissent, ranging from human rights groups being gazetted and their funding source curtailed, to opposition politicians and free speech advocates sued for libel and contempt of court. This paper examines how the Singapore government has made two significant moves towards online media that appears at once restrictive and accommodating towards dissent. The first is the increase in legal and regulatory burdens on the media, while the second is a perceptibly generous invitation for media freedom advocates to discuss and debate about such legal frameworks. We contend that this dualism, far from signalling inclusive governance with a firm hand, only affirms the Singapore government’s authoritarian tendencies towards media freedom advocates. This paper juxtaposes the evolution of narratives of dissent between the 2013 Amendment to the Broadcasting Act to the 2019 public debate on the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA). We explore the dynamics of resistance and posit that, even with the enlarged space for free speech in Singapore, the practice in public discourse points to further curtailment of such free speech.

Keywords:

• Media freedom
• governance
• advocacy
• activism
• narratives
• disinformation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Howard Lee

Howard Lee is Lecturer in communication at Murdoch University, Perth, Australia where he was awarded his PhD in 2021. He served more than a decade as a public communication professional and was a former editor of an online news site in Singapore. His research areas include media governance, governmentality, social surveillance, media freedom and public communication. He has written for various journals, book projects and academic websites on topics relating to Singapore media and politics, freedom of information, technology and social media, and the governance of journalism.

Terence Lee

Terence Lee is Professor of Politics and Communication, and Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences, at Sheridan Institute of Higher Education, Perth, Australia. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Communication Research and Practice journal, and author (with Lauren O’Mahony and Pia Lebeck) of Creativity and Innovation: Everyday Dynamics and Practice (Palgrave, 2023). He is also the author/editor of several books on Singapore and Southeast Asia, including: The Media, Cultural Control and Government in Singapore (Routledge, 2010); Singapore: Negotiating state and society, 1965-2015 (with Jason Lim, Routledge, 2016); and Global internet governance: influences from Malaysia and Singapore (with Susan Leong, Palgrave, 2021). He also co-edited with Kevin YL Tan a bestselling trilogy series analysing Singapore’s general elections over a decade in 2011, 2015 and 2020.