THINK you can get away with irresponsible, racist remarks on the Internet?
I am shocked to know that even blogger can be arrested for writing his/her personal view on his/her personal virtual space. But these people are going too far to write malicious entries especially racial issues.
BLOGGERS have become used to letting off steam, while invective in Internet forums is nothing new. Yesterday, however, the online community received a little reminder that real laws still apply in the virtual world.Netizens may watch their words
The case is likely to have a temporary "chilling effect" on the Internet community, Everyone will definitely become more careful about what they say.
Blogging is no different from other forms of speech in everyday life.Many bloggers do not know the law, unlike trained journalists. People assume there is a cloak of secrecy
In possibly the first such case here, two Singaporeans have been arrested for allegedly posting extremely racist remarks on their blogs.They are also believed to know each other.
Both bloggers had caused outrage among netizens with their racist entries in the past few months.The New Paper has been on the trail of Tom since June this year, when he first posted an offensive entry.We are not naming the race or religion insulted so as not to publicise his remarks.The entry contained many vulgarities.Tom's words incensed both members and non-members of the race and religion insulted.The URL of his blog spread like wildfire through e-mail messages, online forums and even SMSes, and the comments and insults came pouring in.His blog was 'flamed' - within a week, over 300 comments were left on Tom's blog about the offending entry.Many of the comments were as vulgar as the original blog posting.
Some even threatened violence - several bloggers threatened to beat Tom up, saying they knew what he looked like and where he lived.They had found his particulars from other websites and forums he was a member of, such as Friendster.
Lawyer Wilson Wong said the two bloggers' entries 'may constitute an offence under the Sedition Act or the Undesirable Publications Act'.
Under the Sedition Act, first time offenders who 'promote feelings of ill-will and hostility between different races or classes of the population of Singapore' could be fined up to $5,000 or jailed up to three years, or both.
Repeat offenders may be jailed up to five years.
Under the Undesirable Publications Act, any person who makes any 'objectionable publication' which deals with 'matters of race or religion in such a manner that the availability of the publication is likely to cause feelings of enmity, hatred, ill-will or hostility between different racial or religious groups', while knowing or having reasonable cause to believe the publication to be objectionable, can be fined up to $5,000, jailed one year, or both.
Don't think you can get away leaving ridiclous and malicious comments or entries in virtual. Think again.
One theory of prejudice is that the kind of bigotry you see in these blogs comes from personal insecurity.
BLOGGERS have become used to letting off steam, while invective in Internet forums is nothing new. Yesterday, however, the online community received a little reminder that real laws still apply in the virtual world.Netizens may watch their words
The case is likely to have a temporary "chilling effect" on the Internet community, Everyone will definitely become more careful about what they say.
Blogging is no different from other forms of speech in everyday life.Many bloggers do not know the law, unlike trained journalists. People assume there is a cloak of secrecy
In possibly the first such case here, two Singaporeans have been arrested for allegedly posting extremely racist remarks on their blogs.They are also believed to know each other.
Both bloggers had caused outrage among netizens with their racist entries in the past few months.The New Paper has been on the trail of Tom since June this year, when he first posted an offensive entry.We are not naming the race or religion insulted so as not to publicise his remarks.The entry contained many vulgarities.Tom's words incensed both members and non-members of the race and religion insulted.The URL of his blog spread like wildfire through e-mail messages, online forums and even SMSes, and the comments and insults came pouring in.His blog was 'flamed' - within a week, over 300 comments were left on Tom's blog about the offending entry.Many of the comments were as vulgar as the original blog posting.
Some even threatened violence - several bloggers threatened to beat Tom up, saying they knew what he looked like and where he lived.They had found his particulars from other websites and forums he was a member of, such as Friendster.
Lawyer Wilson Wong said the two bloggers' entries 'may constitute an offence under the Sedition Act or the Undesirable Publications Act'.
Under the Sedition Act, first time offenders who 'promote feelings of ill-will and hostility between different races or classes of the population of Singapore' could be fined up to $5,000 or jailed up to three years, or both.
Repeat offenders may be jailed up to five years.
Under the Undesirable Publications Act, any person who makes any 'objectionable publication' which deals with 'matters of race or religion in such a manner that the availability of the publication is likely to cause feelings of enmity, hatred, ill-will or hostility between different racial or religious groups', while knowing or having reasonable cause to believe the publication to be objectionable, can be fined up to $5,000, jailed one year, or both.
Don't think you can get away leaving ridiclous and malicious comments or entries in virtual. Think again.
One theory of prejudice is that the kind of bigotry you see in these blogs comes from personal insecurity.
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