Despite a geoblock from Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) on Saturday, December 15, the contentious Singapore Herald, formerly the States Times Review, continues to publish articles on Patreon, a crowdfunding website.
The Singapore Herald is connected with Alex Tan, the man behind The States Times Review (STR). The STR was shut down last month, but was reborn as The Singapore Herald. Read more here.
The IMDA geoblocked the Singapore Herald after it refused to remove eight articles between December 6 and 12 concerning the current tensions between Singapore and Malaysia due to the territorial dispute over airspace and maritime borders.
Channel NewsAsia reported that according to the IMDA, these articles “blatantly misrepresent” the country’s stand concerning the disputes with Malaysia. “Such false statements, especially the use of emotionally charged phrases like ‘threaten’ and ‘provoke’, might stoke feelings of ill will against Singapore, and undermine both sides’ efforts to resolve the situation peacefully.”
When the Singapore Herald, which was given the deadline of taking down the offensive articles by 4:00 pm last Friday, December 14, failed to take down the offending articles, Internet service providers were told by the IMDA to restrict access to the site.
A post on the Singapore Herald’s Facebook page, which is still labeled States Times Review, said that “in response to Singapore’s censorship,” content from its website would be moved over to Patreon. And while the site is a crowdfunding one, the Singapore Herald/States Times.
The post dated Sunday, December 16, read,
Following the Singapore government’s censorship, the website’s advertisement revenue has been seriously affected as our target audience are Singaporeans.
Singapore Herald does not comply with Singapore’s censorship laws, including the media blackout regulation on Election Day and any order from the Infocomm Media Development Authority.
Moving forward, all news content will be published on our Patreon page.
Please consider a payment to Singapore Herald if you appreciate independent news content.
https://www.patreon.com/SingaporeHerald
The Singapore Herald is, obviously, raising funds, and as such, is ape offering an S$5 tier for would-be supporters.
The site describes itself as a “Toronto-based news website covering independent news on Singapore”.
The Singapore Herald alleged in an article that the publisher of The Independent Singapore has been charged with criminal defamation, an allegation that is blatantly untrue.
Read related IMDA geo-blocks new website linked to STR’s Alex Tan over 8 contentious articles
https://theindependent.sg.sg/imda-geo-blocks-new-website-linked-to-strs-alex-tan-over-8-contentious-articles/