WHILE rule changes may eventually allow Singaporeans to put political films online, that does not translate into leeway for such films to be screened in public without a permit.
Professor Tan Cheng Han, deputy chairman of the Advisory Council on the Impact of New Media on Society, or Aims, yesterday explained why a distinction should still be made between what is permissible online and offline.
Prof Tan, the National University of Singapore's Dean of Law, said the law's intention must be taken into account.
The law requiring a person holding a public screening to apply for a public entertainment licence has a purpose in the physical world that is not applicable in cyberspace, he said.
'It serves to reduce, or at least to take into consideration, the effect that a large gathering of people might have on other parts of the community around it,' he explained.
'It also takes into account the impact this might have on issues of public order, and so on. Whereas, if you just put up a video on the Internet, basically people view it from a remote location, and there's no impact on other third parties.'
Another council member, Mr Charles Lim, explained it this way: 'What you say in your private blog may not be treated the same way as going to Fullerton Square and shouting the same thing.
'And what you publish in traditional media may not be quite the same as what you say in your private blog because of the amount of eyeball attention that you might attract.'
Mr Lim is a Principal Senior State Counsel in the Attorney-General's Chambers.
Aims chairman Cheong Yip Seng believes, however, that there may be a need to review this dual-
track system of laws in future.
'I feel that it is one major area that a future Aims council ought to look at very closely.
'We need to study carefully and we need to see whether or not, as a result of the blurring of the boundaries, some changes to the laws affecting old media and how you deal with new media ought to be reviewed,' he said.
This story was first published in The Straits Times on 30 August 2008.
