Principles of Censorship in Singapore
     Administration of censorship in Singapore has
been performed in a typically methodical manner
with guidelines developed through experience.[8]
     First, materials going into the home are more
heavily censored than those going into the corporate
world. The Singapore authorities have drawn a
distinction between information for business uses,
which should be as free flowing as possible, and
information for non-business uses. Information for
the home is seen to be of a less critical nature so
censorship of such information is regarded to have
not as deleterious an effect.
     Second, materials for the young are more heavily
censored than those for adults. This is an admittedly
paternalistic principle of protecting the weaker
members of society from the possible harm of the
materials in question.
     Third, materials for public consumption are more
heavily censored than those for private consumption.
This is a corollary of the second principle as it is
assumed that the public includes those who are
"weaker." Also, regardless of the level of censorship
those who are determined can always get their hands
on them. Hence private consumption can only be
policed to a limited extent. Further, it is more
efficient to police public instead of private
consumption. It should be noted that private
consumption of censorship materials is still policed
in that those found in private possession of censored
materials can be convicted in court.
     Finally, materials deemed to have artistic and
educational merit are less heavily censored. This is a
recently articulated principle and has been applied to
movies, which now have an R(A) or Restricted
(Artistic) rating.
     In sum, censorship in Singapore has an element
of differentiation: home vs. business, children vs.
adults, public vs. private consumption. Further,
materials that can be shown to have some tangible
and wider benefit--such as for business, art and
education--are censored with a much lighter hand.
On the other hand, materials deemed to have less
tangible benefit--such as "pure entertainment"-- are
censored more heavily.
     To be sure, some of these principles come into
conflict in the administration of censorship. The
concession to artistic materials is an admission of
one such conflict. On the Internet, however, the
conflict is magnified.
4. Problems in Censorship of the Internet
     As a new technology, the Internet defies
censorship because of characteristics such as
information explosion, de-massification,
convergence, computer culture and globalisation.
     First, the Internet has the ability to explode
information onto every user. More information can
be gathered and distributed at a faster pace, meaning
that the flow of information in circulation increases
at an exponential rate. In Singapore, however, the
number of censors at work has not kept pace with
the explosive growth in the amount of censorable
materials.