THE 13-member panel, Aims, was formed in April last year to study the social, ethical, legal and regulatory impact of new media.

Aims, or the Advisory Council on the Impact of New Media on Society, was set up to recommend to the Government how these issues should be managed in line with the growth of the media.

The panel said its 95-page report is guided by four principles:

• Use government regulation as a last resort.
• Laws are needed where the risk of harm is high.
  
• Focus more on encouraging interaction between the Government and citizens online.
• Encourage online discourse in a way that brings the best possible outcomes for everybody.
  

Aims is gathering public feedback on its report. You can leave your comments on its website www.aims.org.sg The council will take in views for the next six to eight weeks, before submitting a final report to the Government.

The issues discussed:

1. Governments should engage online forums
2. Three ways to tackle Section 33
3. Education best shield against cyber dangers
4. Defamation suits: Spare the content hosts
5. Old rules apply to political films
6. Govt still needs to be moderator

PRESSURE ON TRADITIONAL MEDIA TO CHANGE

'I think it would have an enormous impact on the old media. It will accelerate the need for the old media to change. I'm glad to see the old media is responding vigorously to this. If you read publications by Singapore Press Holdings - Lianhe Zaobao, The Straits Times - you see how actively they're moving into the new media arena. So I see that they're responding.'

Aims chairman Cheong Yip Seng, on how new media is affecting traditional media

IF WE REMOVE BLOCK ON WEBSITES, IT WILL BE A SYMBOLIC MOVE

'One recommendation which could be perceived as radical is that eventually, the 100 blocked websites should be removed. There were people who said we should retain the blocked websites because it has symbolic value - that Government has taken a high moral ground that does not condone objectionable and undesirable material like porn. But because it is largely symbolic, some parents thought the material their children (can now) access are actually filtered and censored by the Government. Anyone who knows cyberspace will know that the number of porn websites is well in excess of 100. So the efficacy of blocking 100 websites is really very, very symbolic at best... '

Aims member Charles Lim, a Principal Senior State Counsel at the Attorney-General's Chambers, on whether the recommendations went far enough

WE STILL NEED NET REGULATION

'Some people might feel the report has not gone far enough. But we still need a regulative framework. I think of them as brakes on your car. The immediate effect is to slow down your car. But having good brakes lets you drive as fast as possible. And if your car has no brakes at all, you should not be driving. We used to talk about the 'Information Superhighway'. It is comparable to a physical highway. The rules are there so you can drive as fast as possible with safety. Just imagine if everybody goes without brakes.'

Aims member Anh Tuan Nuyen, an associate professor with the National University of Singapore

This story was first published in The Straits Times on 30 August 2008.

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