6/07/2013
Social Media Blackout – What you no longer read
Yesterday was the first time social media stopped writing about Singapore news. What the people could read was only news from the main media. Does it make any difference if there is no social media around and the people continue to read only news from the main media? Not really, life will go on as normal.
So, what is the point of a social media blackout or the total obliteration of social media? The main media will continue its responsible and professional role of feeding the people with the right thing to read and all the feel good news. The negative side of the news, the other version of the news, the other truth, will not be seen or heard. The people will be safe from reading the wrong news or not right news. No one will miss anything.
Would things be just as fine? It all depends on whether the main media is doing an adequate job in reporting all the right news. It all depends on whether the people are satisfied with reading all the right news. It all depends on whether the people, having been exposed to the other side of the news think the main media is doing enough and giving them a balanced news.
More than a hundred social media blogs and sites went black yesterday. Many of the bloggers saw the need for a protest to prevent the clamping down of information flow and news about Singapore from being black out in the social media in the future. What happened yesterday was a little blackout, a temporary blackout. The new regulation with its all encompassing rules could lead to a total blackout, a permanent blackout if not stopped in its path.
Remember the incremental changes to the CPF rulings, the incremental changes to the housing policies, the incremental changes to the import of foreigners to the country. The new social media regulation has set out with a very wide net. The implementation of bringing 10 websites under the regulation is only a very small step forward. The assurance by the ministers may seem comforting to some and brought about a false sense to relief that this is all about the new regulation. But with the provisions, incremental steps could be taken along the way and one by one could come under the net. Soon, when one becomes too complacent, the net could rope in every blog and social media site before you know it.
Don’t be complacent and drop your guards. Don’t ever think this is it and everything is ok or will be ok. Be afraid.
PS: The internet gives everyone a voice, a say in what he/she wants to say. Without social media, the people's mouth is shut for good.
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18 comments:
"Don’t ever think this is it and everything is ok or will be ok. Be afraid."
redbean
Ya. Be afraid. I think everybody is afraid, including PAP. But for different reasons.
Even the many Sinkie opposition parties are also afraid. But not necessarily for the same reasons. That's why they are not anywhere as strong and united as PAP.
What politicians have to say is irrelevant. The hard facts are simply this. Providing the law provisions for any government of the day to go for a blogger - then in law, they have every right to deny you, me or anyone the right to express ourselves freely online.
This law must go. Either that or this entire political outfit needs to be changed out.
It's fair to say that the last thing we want to see now is another case of a closed door speech given in the school of Rajaatnam.
Darkness 2013
...this entire political outfit needs to be changed out."
dotseng June 07, 2013 8:51 am
hahahaha. Tan ku ku. Wait long long lah.
WP even though is the strongest opposition is not really that strong but still must be tekan to make it even less strong.
Reuters
[UPDATE 1-
Internet giants deny granting govt 'direct access' to servers]
"Major tech companies including Apple Inc, Google and Facebook Inc on Thursday said
they do not provide any govt agency with "direct access" to their servers,
contradicting a Washington Post report that they have granted such access under a classified data collection program."
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/07/apple-nsa-idUSL1N0EJ00420130607
RB I do not want to pour cold water but knowing sinkie less than 200 will show up
GST is to help the poor.
The price of HDB flats is subsidized.
Social media blackout is to help Singaporeans save time.
Black out is good because everybody can then share the same opinion as the Straits Times.
No need to think anymore.
No need to argue and debate anymore.
Just read the Straits Times.
And if we want more in depth analysis, just read one of LKY's books.
After that, just vote only for PAP.
Don't waste time going to Opposition Party rallies.
Think got no choice but to agree with you. ST is the top newspaper here, always reporting the right thing.
As for the protest, I think this issue may not draw the kind crowd like the population White Paper. Only bloggers are concerned about freedom to express.
Don't expect too big a crowd. 200 would be a big disappointment.
Singaporeans must band together to push back the 'political flood' from inundating our internet motherland by showing up, taking a firm stance for freedom of expression both in the mainstream and internet.
This is our UNIVERSAL RIGHT.
Would the tertiary students turn up in force?
Social media isn't so much about news.
It is personal empowerment which satisfies one of the most basic human desires: to express our ideas to other people. And it is a large tent, with practically no barriers to entry. You don't get much more egalitarian than this.
The range of ides is vast to -- anything and everything from aspects of personal and professional lives, to opinions on culture, society and of course government.
Most of us are both producers and consumers of social media (SM) -- we create content, and we also indulge in the content created by others, even strangers living far away.
Some detractors complain about the level of noise in SM. This is true, however there is also some excellent, quality SIGNAL too. Ordinary people with extraordinary ideas.
The mainstream media is FULL of NOISE -- irrelevant nonsense for e.g. who gives a shit if Angie Jolie sliced off both her tits? Or if another Kim Kardashian sex tape "accidentally" leaked out and went viral? How the fuck is that important? What crucial human problem does it solve, such that mankind might benefit?
Zero. Nothing. Wasting time and space, appealing to the basest of our already embarrasing nature: voyeurism, and the profit-centered MSM does it to "boost sales and circulation" thereby justifying the exorbitant fees charged for advertising.
Social media is (or in case of Singapore: could be) one of THE LAST truly FREE MARKETS left: the free market where ideas are created and exchanged, driven by each individual's SELF INTEREST, creating VALUE and PROFIT for each producer and consumer. Adam Smith, if alive, would be smiling.
redbean:
>> Don’t be complacent and drop your guards. Don’t ever think this is it and everything is ok or will be ok. Be afraid.
Fear, in the right context is an excellent motivator. So I'll add to redbean's initial stimulation of your in-buil kiasu-kiasi engine.
redbean is right to say that encroachments upon the staus quo is incremental. Today they regulate the MSM. Who knows what could be next? Blogs and forums? Facebook and Twitter? Skype and instant messaging...maybe even SMS and email.
Imagine your government (a minority compared to the millions of local netizens) telling you to "shut the fuck up or else" in every medium of communication available -- the "or else" part being real threats of extreme lawful punishment.
If you don't feel a tinge of outrage, and remain passive, you might consider removing yourself from the species.
'Media Development Authority clarified on its Facebook page on May 31 that, “An individual publishing views on current affairs and trends on his/her personal website or blog does not amount to news reporting.” However, in a separate statement, the Authority undermined this claim by asserting that, “If they [blogs] take on the nature of news sites, we will take a closer look and evaluate them accordingly.”'
This is slippery.
@1121:
>> This is slippery.
That's typical PAP strategy. Be vague, but not too vague. Be precise enough to administer the law, but the "vagueness" opens the law to nuances of interpretation, firstly by the minister and his stat board, and ultimately by the Chief Justice and his coterie of "learned counsels".
Singapore is known for "creative" interpretations of written law. Chee Soon Juan kena busted under "entertainment licensing". JBJ and others kena for "libel". Lim Hock Siew, Chia Thye Poh and those involved in the more recent "Operation Spectrum" all kena under ISA.
When the judicial system is not independent but control by a political party, we are all screwed. There will be no right and wrong. There will only be pro or not pro party. That is the reason why the government should not be given to one party. One party rule is not good for the country, people and environment.
Using the same conditions, Malaysia can ask ST and the other main media here to apply for licence and put up a bond for reporting on Malaysian news.
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