Scores protest new Internet rules

About 1,000 Singaporeans rallied yesterday to protest a new government policy that requires some news websites to obtain licences and possibly remove 'offensive' content.

The policy that took effect this month, has triggered criticism that authorities in the southeast Asian city state are trying to enforce online media censorship. Newspapers and television have long been tightly supervised in Singapore, but officials maintain the website policy is not meant to muzzle freedom of expression.

Websites that report regularly on Singaporean news and attract at least 50,000 visitors a month are now required to obtain annual licenses.

They must remove any content considered objectionable by the government within 24 hours of notification.

A crowd that gathered at the Speakers' Corner free speech area of a Singapore park listened to bloggers and other speakers denounce the regulation.

One man held a poster that read, 'Internet censorship: Worst idea ever', while many booed when the names of government officials were spoken.

"This is definitely an attempt at censorship, and it's quite plain to see that this regulation is not in the interests of anyone, but the government," said blogger, Ravi Philemon.

The rally's chief organiser, Howard Lee, said the demonstrators hope to draw attention to a petition that has more than 4,000 signatures demanding the withdrawal of the policy.

The rule affects 10 websites so far, including Yahoo! News in Singapore.