Criteria for Registration under Broadcasting (Class Licence) Notification Framework

Mdm Speaker, MDA adopts a balanced and practical approach in its regulation of Internet Content Providers (ICPs). And these include any individual in Singapore who provides any programme, for business, political or religious purposes, or any corporation or group of individuals who provide any programme on the Internet.

There are three forms of licences for ICPs under MDA's licensing framework: (a) an individual licence; (b) an automatic class licence; and (c) an automatic class licence with the requirement to register with the MDA. Let me elaborate on these three categories.

First, the individual licences are issued to content providers which offer a television service through the Internet. Examples are MediaCorp's Toggle and xinMSN. And individual licences are also issued to news portals that report regularly on Singapore's news and current affairs and enjoy significant reach among Singaporeans. Ten online news licences have been issued since the scheme was implemented on 1 June 2013. That is the first category.

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The second category of licensing applies to the rest of the ICPs which are regulated under the Automatic Class licensing regime that has been in place since 1996. These licensees do not need to apply to MDA for individual licences, but they are automatically class-licensed once they operate their websites. This remains the primary route through which the vast majority of websites on the Internet are licensed.

By virtue of their class licence, the ICPs have to comply with the conditions under the Broadcasting (Class Licence) Notification and the content guidelines in the Internet Code of Practice. ICPs that fail to abide by the Code can be taken to task by MDA for having their class licences cancelled or suspended. Since 1996, MDA has not had to cancel or suspend any ICP, which also means that it has not had to prosecute any party.

Finally, the third category would apply to certain types of ICPs to which class licences are granted automatically, but with the condition that they register with the MDA. Paragraphs three to five of the Schedule of the Broadcasting (Class Licence) Notification spell out the types of ICPs that need to register with MDA. They include ICPs who are political parties registered in Singapore providing any programme through the Internet, and ICPs who are "a body of persons engaged in the propagation, promotion or discussion of political or religious issues relating to Singapore through the Internet".

MDA also reserves the right to require ICPs who are in the business of "providing through the Internet an online newspaper for a subscription fee or other consideration" or who are "individuals providing any programme for the propagation, promotion or discussion of political or religious issues relating to Singapore through the Internet" to register with it.

So, these are provisions already provided for and spelt out clearly in the Schedule. The need to move from automatic class licence to class licence by registration only occurs when an individual or body meets these criteria which are spelt out in the Schedule.

What does registration entail? It is fairly straightforward and would only require the applicant to provide relevant information, such as contact details, a brief description of the website, key personnel operating it and any information that might shed light on possible foreign funding. There are currently eight websites run by political parties, 39 websites involved in the "propagation, promotion or discussion of religious issues relating to Singapore" and four websites "involved in the propagation, promotion or discussion of political

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issues relating to Singapore" registered under this Notification.

As the regulator, MDA also exercises the discretion to invoke the clauses consistently. And if there are developments or trends suggesting a need to require registration on a new group or category of entities and to register them in a different form or manner, MDA will do so. It is in this context that I would like to elaborate a little bit on MDA's decision to register The Independent in July last year and most recently, The Breakfast Network.

As Members would be aware, in July last year, MDA asked The Independent to register under the Broadcasting (Class Licence) Notification. Although The Independent describes itself as a newspaper, it was also clear from its stated aim of bringing in-depth perspective and analysis on political issues in Singapore that it intended to engage in the propagation, promotion and discussion of political issues related to Singapore. Furthermore, the Government had received specific information which gave it cause for concern over foreign interest to fund The Independent. So, MDA asked the providers of The Independent to register, and as part of the registration, to sign an undertaking not to receive foreign funding.

It is a longstanding principle that foreign entities are not allowed to engage in Singapore politics. Foreign interests should also not be allowed to control or, worse, to manipulate our local media platforms which are prime vehicles for influence; and this principle is not in itself new.

All the 12 sites which MDA had previously registered for providing political content had already been gazetted as political associations under the Political Donations Act and, hence, are already prohibited from receiving foreign funding.

What is different in the case of The Independent is that, it had not been gazetted as a political association, and part of its business plan was to obtain subscriptions and advertising revenue. Therefore, MDA had required, as part of the registration, that it signs an undertaking not to receive foreign funding. It is also for this reason that MDA had revised the registration forms to include such an undertaking. The undertaking only requires that the organisation does not accept foreign funding, and is not a blanket prohibition on funding, which would render the site's intended business plan unworkable. So, that particular prohibition applies specifically to foreign funding.

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The case of The Independent revealed potential problems when sites which engage in the "propagation, promotion or discussion of political or religious issues" structure themselves as corporate entities to receive investments, including from foreign sources. In the case of newspapers operating under permits issued under the Newspapers and Printing Presses Act, there are clear provisions to allow newspapers to be subject to provisions controlling foreign influence. The Broadcasting Act, which ICPs are regulated under, also recognises this principle but the class licence does not contain specific provisions against this as this particular scenario of foreign funding was not recognised back in 1996 when the class licence was first designed.

Having noticed this, MDA decided that cases similar to The Independent, where sites operated by corporate entities that engage in the "propagation, promotion or discussion of political or religious issues" and which had a greater possibility of coming under foreign influence through foreign funding, would be dealt with in the same way. And that is why MDA asked The Breakfast Network to register.

MDA had earlier said that it will look into introducing more comprehensive safeguards within the Broadcasting Act to prevent foreign interests from influencing local politics through the Singaporean media, whether in print, broadcast or online. But it was necessary for MDA to act in the interim and to ensure that the providers of The Independent and The Breakfast Network are aware of the conditions from the outset, rather than for them to accept foreign investments into their corporate structure only to have to unwind this later. This would have caused them even more problems. The principle of not accepting foreign funding is something which responsible operators agree with. In fact, The Independent has stated that it accepts this principle.

In summary, the class licence with the requirement to register is not new. It has been part of the licensing framework under the Broadcasting Act since 1996. In the cases of The Independent and The Breakfast Network, these have not been gazetted under the Political Donations Act but they are running websites by corporate entities with the aim of "engaging in the propagation, promotion or discussion of political issues relating to Singapore". And MDA saw the need for them to sign an undertaking not to receive foreign funding as part of the registration. The class licence with registration is an integral part of our licensing framework and it has been used selectively, but consistently. And this is the regulatory approach that MDA will continue to undertake in the future.

I thank the Member for the feedback which they have, in fact, also given to MDA. But I would say that The Independent has actually submitted their forms. So, whether or not it is onerous, they have, in fact, applied and they have submitted all their forms, and that is being reviewed by MDA presently. We are very open to trying to see ways in which we can streamline the process of application.

Madam, I would just like to ask the Minister two questions. The first is, I understand that The Breakfast Network was also asked to take down their Facebook and Twitter accounts. Why were they asked to do so? And the second question is, if our newspapers are allowed to accept advertisements from foreign companies, is that not considered some kind of foreign funding as well?

I will take the second question first with regard to foreign advertising or with respect to newspapers being subject to foreign influence, for example, foreign advertising. There are actually very clear provisions set out in the Newspapers and Printing Presses Act which give a lot more control over the newspapers, and that is why, in a way, that concern is addressed specifically with provisions under the Newspapers and Printing Presses Act.

The same concern with respect to foreign funding but there are more control levers, regulatory levers, there with respect to newspapers, but not so much with respect to the Internet providers. That had not been envisaged. The principle is there in the Broadcasting Act but the regulatory levers are not there in the class licence, and that is why the recent updates to the class licensing scheme and the registration provisions require some declaration of undertaking.

For the first question on the take-down of Facebook and Twitter, that, I think, only came after The Breakfast Network decided that it would not be able to comply with the registration. And I think that is something that when MDA looked at the decision that The Breakfast Network had come to, in deciding not to continue, it felt that then as a company, as a corporate entity, it will not have the licence to operate on the Internet whether on Facebook, Twitter or on the website. Therefore, the decision was to ask The Breakfast Network to take down these sites.

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Madam, to follow up on the earlier question, will foreign funding include subscriptions from overseas as well as advertising from overseas? He mentioned that advertising restrictions do not apply for the traditional media because they are subject to other regulations. But would it apply to online media as well for both subscriptions and advertising?

I understand the restrictions will apply more in terms of the actual receipt of funding by the corporate entity to run its business but there will be issues of advertising, because if you look at Internet advertising, it is growing. And then the question would be where do you get these sources of revenue from. So, that is something that MDA has been in discussion with The Independent, particularly in sorting out some of the implementation issues.

But the main concern with foreign funding would apply, firstly, to receipt of funding by the corporate entity itself to run its business which, I think, the undertaking by these entities would then address, because then they would undertake not to receive foreign funding. On advertising itself, I think that is something that we have to discuss the specifics, because it is more complicated in the Internet world where you may have difficulties in tracking the source of funding. But that is something that they are working through in discussion, the details, between MDA and The Independent.