Singapore Archives - Committee to Protect Journalists

Singapore's Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam McCully addresses the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters on Monday, Sept. 29, 2014. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Singapore ministers threaten legal action against media outlets, government demands ‘corrections’

January 10, 2025 3:21 PM EST

New York, January 10, 2025— Singapore Minister for Manpower Tan See Leng and Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam should withdraw threats of legal action against media outlets over their public interest reporting, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. “The threats of legal action by Singapore ministers against media outlets, as well as…

Singapore High Court rules that The Online Citizen bloggers defamed prime minister

September 3, 2021 11:12 AM EDT

Bangkok, September 3, 2021 – The Committee to Protect Journalists today expressed alarm at the Singapore High Court’s ruling awarding Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong more than US$156,500 in damages in defamation suits against bloggers Terry Xu and Rubaashini Shunmuganathan. The High Court on September 1 ruled that Xu, chief editor of The Online Citizen news blog,…

Government Technology Agency staff demonstrate Singapore's new contact-tracing smartphone app called TraceTogether, as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus on March 20, 2020. Bill Marczak, an expert in cellphone surveillance technology, told CPJ about the implications for journalists as governments ramp up their capacity to monitor citizens in a time of crisis. (AFP/Catherine Lai)

Expert Bill Marczak: What journalists should know about coronavirus cellphone tracking

March 26, 2020 1:00 PM EDT

Governments all over the world have been considering cellphone surveillance to help track and contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is seen in Singapore on November 15, 2018. The prime minister recently threatened to sue the editor of a local news website for libel. (AFP/Lillian Suwanrumpha)

Singapore prime minister threatens to sue The Online Citizen for libel

September 3, 2019 10:30 AM EDT

Bangkok, September 3, 2019 — Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong should drop his legal threat against news website The Online Citizen and cease his government’s long-running legal harassment of independent media, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

The Singapore parliament building is seen on April 29, 2019. The parliament recently passed a restrictive 'fake news' bill that endangers press freedom. (AFP/Roslan Rahman)

Singapore passes ‘fake news’ legislation that threatens press

May 9, 2019 10:23 AM EDT

Bangkok, May 9, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the Singapore parliament’s passage of legislation that could be used to stifle reporting and the dissemination of news, and called for the punitive measure’s immediate repeal.

Singapore's Parliament House is seen on March 20, 2019. The country is currently considering a law that poses a threat to freedom of speech online. (Roslan Rahman/AFP)

Singapore ‘fake news’ legislation endangers press freedom

April 2, 2019 11:54 AM EDT

Bangkok, April 2, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists called today on the Singapore parliament to reject legislation that would force online platforms to take down or amend news or information authorities deem as false.

Singapore's Merlion statue is lit up in front of the city skyline in March 2018. Authorities are investigating a criminal defamation complaint against an independent news website. (AFP/Roslan Rahman)

Singapore police seize equipment, interrogate editor of The Online Citizen

November 26, 2018 11:47 AM EST

On November 20, 2018, five police officers seized a desktop computer, mobile devices, and laptops from the Singapore home of Terry Xu, chief editor of the independent news website The Online Citizen, according to news reports. Xu was summoned to the city-state’s Cantonment Complex at 3pm that day, where authorities interrogated him for over eight…

A bird's-eye view of ships along the coast in Singapore in July 2017. Singapore's parliament is considering draft legislation that would prevent journalists from reporting on what was happening terror attacks.(Reuters/Jorge Silva)

Singapore draft law aims to censor reporting on terror attacks

February 28, 2018 10:23 AM EST

Bangkok, February 28, 2018–Draft anti-terrorism legislation under consideration in Singapore would imperil press freedom by banning journalists from covering terror attacks, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Turkey’s crackdown propels number of journalists in jail worldwide to record high

December 13, 2016 12:00 AM EST

At least 81 journalists are imprisoned in Turkey, all of them facing anti-state charges, in the wake of an unprecedented crackdown that has included the shuttering of more than 100 news outlets. The 259 journalists in jail worldwide is the highest number recorded since 1990. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser

Demonstrators protesting the trial of blogger Amos Yee hold pictures of the late Lee Kuan Yew, founder of modern Singapore, on July 5, 2015. (Reuters/Tyrone Siu)

Proposed law on contempt of court threatens press freedom in Singapore

August 5, 2016 1:59 PM EDT

Bangkok, August 5, 2016 – Singaporean lawmakers should scrap proposed legislation on what constitutes contempt of court in news reporting and public commentary, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The draft law’s penalties for violations, including possible prison terms for criticizing the judiciary, threaten to entrench more self-censorship in Singapore’s constrained media environment.