Banned Singapore publication The Online Citizen loses court bid to restore website

SINGAPORE, Dec 17 (dpa): Former Singaporean news and commentary publication The Online Citizen on Thursday (December 16) lost its legal bid to restore its website and social media pages after they were taken down earlier in the year.

The Online Citizen was effectively banned in September, with its website and related pages taken down for allegedly refusing to disclose foreign funding.

The publication’s lawyer, Lim Tean, said on Thursday that the latest 27-page ruling, which suggests the government may have licensing powers over social media pages, “makes the operation for any media outlet in Singapore impractical. , especially one such as TOC, which is dedicated to promoting freedom of expression and freedom of the press.”

However, he added that the decision means The Online Citizen could operate a website from outside Singapore.

Earlier in the year, The Online Citizen lost a defamation case involving Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, whose father Lee Kuan Yew was the city-state’s first and longest-serving prime minister.

The family had in the past won several lawsuits against international media outlets which, despite Singapore’s longstanding restrictions on media and free speech, have generally sought a base in the city-state.

A wealthy financial and investment hub, Singapore has been downgraded in recent years in press and civil liberties rankings by organizations such as Reporters Without Borders and CIVICUS Monitor, and was not invited to a recent “summit of democracy” organized by the United States. – dpa