The “cooling-off” day proposed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to be introduced in the next election has stirred considerable interest in blogosphere with many netizens wondering how the new law will be enforced in cyberspace.
All mass rallies, door-to-door visits and public display of party symbols will be banned on the “cooling-off” day on the eve of polling day itself to enable voters to make a “calm” and “rational” decision.
Prime Minister Lee did not spell out clearly the circumstances under which the offenders will be prosecuted under the law or its penalties except that he hoped the spirit and principle of the “cooling-off” period would be upheld by Internet users.
“I can’t control several million videos on YouTube. But your website, what you are putting out in your own name, I think that should end on the day before cooling-off day,” PM Lee added.
Does the new law cover the following: -
1. Political commentaries posted on personal blogs.
2. Discussions on the elections in internet chatrooms.
3. Photos of the elections.
4. Videos of rallies, interviews and documentaries uploaded on Youtube.
5. Cartoons, parodies and satires.
For all intent and purposes, the law will be impossible to implement on the ground unless the PAP moves in to close down all the offending sites either overtly or covertly.
Anonymous bloggers will still be writing articles on the election, netizens will be flaming one another in the forums and Youtube will be filled with video clips recorded days before the “cooling-off” day.
It is far more practical to target the websites of political parties as well as established blogs with a sizable readership whose owner’s identity is already known.
Among the political parties’ websites, only SDP has a substantial readership to speak of.
SDP is the first political party in Singapore to make use of the new media to get its message across.
Soon after it announced its decision to utilize podcasts to reach out to the media, the government banned the its use during election time (the ban has now been lifted)
The readership of SDP’s website has increased since the last election and is expected to doubled on the eve of the election.
The “cooling-off” day will probably have a detrimental impact on the SDP’s campaign since the mainstream media is unlikely to give it much publicity, if any at all.
During the 2006 elections, blogger Mr Brown caused the PAP considerable embarrassment with his “Bak Chor Mee” parody which went on to be one of the most watched videos during the campaign period.
Under the new law, Mr Brown will be banned from posting any such satirical pieces on his popular blog on the eve of polling day to prevent it from “swaying” public opinion.
Blogger and gay activist Mr Alex Au whose photos of the huge turnout at the opposition rallies will also be prevented from posting similar photos on his blog “Yawning Bread” on the “cooling-off” day.
While no details have been divulged yet, the penalties for such offenses may be a hefty fine or even imprisonment to deter potential “trouble-makers” from breaking the law.
After all, an election is a “serious business” according to PM Lee whose outcome should not be left entirely to chance or determined by raw emotion.
The PAP can well afford to ignore blogs run by anonymous bloggers with a low readership and those set up during the election itself because they are not going to have exert any influence on the electoral result.
As the Malaysian experience have shown, the new media is only able to have an impact if it has a readership which is comparable to that of the mainstream media.
For example, Malaysiakini has a higher online readership than all the other mainstream newspapers controlled by the government such as New Straits Times, The Star and Utusan Melayu.
Besides Malaysiakini, there are also other semi-professional and amateur sites with a high enough readership to challenge the mass media – Malaysia Today, The Malaysian Insider, Merdeka Review and The Nut Graph to quote a few.
Though the Singapore new media still lags far behind its Malaysian counterparts, “freak” events do happen during the election as Mr Brown’s “Bak Chor Mee” which took the PAP entirely by surprise had amply demonstrated.
In fact, given the “kiasu” nature of the PAP, it will not be a surprise if the “cooling-off” day is extended to another two to three days before polling day itself to give it an additional cushion from the expected storm of negative publicity in the new media.
Mr Brown, Alex and other Singapore bloggers will have to decide for themselves if they are willing to pay the price by posting politics-related stuff on their blogs on the “cooling-off” day.
Despite another blatant attempt to manipulate the electoral system to its benefit, the new law will only affect swing voters who have not made up their minds.
To the many Singaporeans who have already decided who to cast their votes for, it will matter little if the “cooling-period” is a day or a week.
All mass rallies, door-to-door visits and public display of party symbols will be banned on the “cooling-off” day on the eve of polling day itself to enable voters to make a “calm” and “rational” decision.
Prime Minister Lee did not spell out clearly the circumstances under which the offenders will be prosecuted under the law or its penalties except that he hoped the spirit and principle of the “cooling-off” period would be upheld by Internet users.
“I can’t control several million videos on YouTube. But your website, what you are putting out in your own name, I think that should end on the day before cooling-off day,” PM Lee added.
Does the new law cover the following: -
1. Political commentaries posted on personal blogs.
2. Discussions on the elections in internet chatrooms.
3. Photos of the elections.
4. Videos of rallies, interviews and documentaries uploaded on Youtube.
5. Cartoons, parodies and satires.
For all intent and purposes, the law will be impossible to implement on the ground unless the PAP moves in to close down all the offending sites either overtly or covertly.
Anonymous bloggers will still be writing articles on the election, netizens will be flaming one another in the forums and Youtube will be filled with video clips recorded days before the “cooling-off” day.
It is far more practical to target the websites of political parties as well as established blogs with a sizable readership whose owner’s identity is already known.
Among the political parties’ websites, only SDP has a substantial readership to speak of.
SDP is the first political party in Singapore to make use of the new media to get its message across.
Soon after it announced its decision to utilize podcasts to reach out to the media, the government banned the its use during election time (the ban has now been lifted)
The readership of SDP’s website has increased since the last election and is expected to doubled on the eve of the election.
The “cooling-off” day will probably have a detrimental impact on the SDP’s campaign since the mainstream media is unlikely to give it much publicity, if any at all.
During the 2006 elections, blogger Mr Brown caused the PAP considerable embarrassment with his “Bak Chor Mee” parody which went on to be one of the most watched videos during the campaign period.
Under the new law, Mr Brown will be banned from posting any such satirical pieces on his popular blog on the eve of polling day to prevent it from “swaying” public opinion.
Blogger and gay activist Mr Alex Au whose photos of the huge turnout at the opposition rallies will also be prevented from posting similar photos on his blog “Yawning Bread” on the “cooling-off” day.
While no details have been divulged yet, the penalties for such offenses may be a hefty fine or even imprisonment to deter potential “trouble-makers” from breaking the law.
After all, an election is a “serious business” according to PM Lee whose outcome should not be left entirely to chance or determined by raw emotion.
The PAP can well afford to ignore blogs run by anonymous bloggers with a low readership and those set up during the election itself because they are not going to have exert any influence on the electoral result.
As the Malaysian experience have shown, the new media is only able to have an impact if it has a readership which is comparable to that of the mainstream media.
For example, Malaysiakini has a higher online readership than all the other mainstream newspapers controlled by the government such as New Straits Times, The Star and Utusan Melayu.
Besides Malaysiakini, there are also other semi-professional and amateur sites with a high enough readership to challenge the mass media – Malaysia Today, The Malaysian Insider, Merdeka Review and The Nut Graph to quote a few.
Though the Singapore new media still lags far behind its Malaysian counterparts, “freak” events do happen during the election as Mr Brown’s “Bak Chor Mee” which took the PAP entirely by surprise had amply demonstrated.
In fact, given the “kiasu” nature of the PAP, it will not be a surprise if the “cooling-off” day is extended to another two to three days before polling day itself to give it an additional cushion from the expected storm of negative publicity in the new media.
Mr Brown, Alex and other Singapore bloggers will have to decide for themselves if they are willing to pay the price by posting politics-related stuff on their blogs on the “cooling-off” day.
Despite another blatant attempt to manipulate the electoral system to its benefit, the new law will only affect swing voters who have not made up their minds.
To the many Singaporeans who have already decided who to cast their votes for, it will matter little if the “cooling-period” is a day or a week.
