SINGAPORE — The High Court has dismissed an application by sociopolitical site The Online Citizen (TOC) for a judicial review to dispute an order by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) to suspend its social media pages and Chinese-language website.
In court documents released on Thursday (Dec 16), High Court Judge Valerie Thean stated that TOC failed to establish "any unequivocal representation" that its class licence — which IMDA had suspended in September — covered only its registered websites, and does not include other platforms which also carry TOC's content.
TOC had launched this judicial review seeking to quash IMDA's suspension order against its social media platforms and Chinese-language website two weeks after IMDA's order.
It had earlier shut down these platforms, as well as its main English website as part of meeting the requirements of the suspension order, which IMDA had issued because TOC had failed to declare its funding sources.
The broadcasting class licence requires content providers that engage in the online promotion or discussion of Singapore’s politics to be transparent about their sources of funding. This is to prevent them from being controlled by foreign actors or coming under the influence of foreign entities and funding.
In Justice Thean's judgement, she stated that services provided by TOC's social media platforms and Chinese-language website are considered "computer online services" "as their primary purpose is undoubtedly to entertain, educate or inform all or part of the public".
Given that all "computer online services" can operate only with a class licence, IMDA's suspension of TOC's class licence would mean its social media platforms and Chinese-language websites would have to be shut as well.
Justice Thean also noted that the Broadcasting Act allows TOC to appeal against IMDA's decision to suspend its class licence to the Minister for Communications and Information, and that such alternative remedies ought to have been exhausted first before launching a judicial review.
To challenge the legal effect of its class licence suspension on its Chinese website and social media platforms, TOC would have needed to appeal against the suspension of the class licence itself, the judgement stated.
The judgement also pointed out that IMDA's suspension order affects only TOC's ability to provide its services in or from Singapore.
However, it "did not purport to prohibit the provision of services from other countries".
More at https://www.todayonline.com/singapo...-media-pages-chinese-language-website-1772586
