So, two bloggers have been jailed under charges from the ‘Sedition Act’, as widely reported by the media. Of course, this is great blog fodder and I’m definitely going to write something about it.
I’m not going to write a commentary on who is right or wrong here, or if the charged are actually innocent. It’s just too bad that there is a lack of any real evidence for the public to see, i.e. we cannot view those ’seditious comments’, and thus I can’t really give my judgement on this. However, I will comment that if these comments were actually detrimental to the integrity of our community, the courts may have done the ‘legally correct’ thing in jailing these people, but I can’t help but feel that there is a serious lack of tact exercised with this decision. Now bloggers everywhere have this sense of fear of being charged under libel. Singapore already has a bad reputation for tight constriction of its citizens’ rights of expression. Can’t we just fight this out intelligently, over blogs? (under a little moderation if they wish, of course)
And what the heck is ’sedition’, anyway? According to my knowledge, backed up with the dictionary, the word means ‘inciting rebellion’. The law seems very vague as it supposedly encompasses situations involving the promotion racial conflict as one of the things that can be charged with. It gives the impression of empowering the prosecutor with a wider arsenal of charges and power than usual. Also, let’s not forget that the British used this law to fight a communist insurgency in the colonial era. Does a law of that age still hold up in our modern era, where the advent of technology has made its use so ambiguous?
I will also comment that some people writing in traditional media (columnists) should watch what they say before it gets published. They go against their own code of conduct and good reporting, which many of them advocate for blogging use. One such glaring example is the use of ‘blogger’ as the term describing the two people charged under the sedition act. As reported, one of the two charged actually posted his comments in a forum (you know, NOT a blog). So, why do the headlines generalize other forms of online publishing and expression as blogs? Just because they are a relatively trendy new media, blogs have come under fire. There is already so much controversy surrounding weblogging, and I’m sure this totally inept use of the word ‘blogger’ will cast a view upon many (easily influenced and provoked) Singaporeans that blogging is something dangerous and to be avoided, instead of embraced. So, Channel NewsAsia, and SPH, please stop using ‘blogger’ in your headlines - or bloggers will follow your perfect example and generalize and twist facts, too.
Well, I was planning to write some nasty stuff on how petty Singaporeans can be but decided against it, because I have to study for tomorrow’s Geography paper. By the way, I don’t believe I’ve written about the flaws of the ACS(I) Integrated Program yet. I may - so watch out, teachas! Examinations are futile.
