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Asia Centre report highlights proliferation of unchecked hate sites in Singapore

“Political Hate Sites in Singapore: Flourishing Without Repercussions” by Asia Centre reveals the challenges of public accountability and free speech. The report criticizes the Singapore government’s handling of online hate content and calls for stricter monitoring and transparent handling by tech companies.

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1 year ago

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SINGAPORE — The Asia Centre, a Bangkok-based research institute, published a critical report on Saturday (7 Jul) titled “Political Hate Sites in Singapore: Flourishing Without Repercussions”.

The report explores the challenges to public accountability and freedom of speech arising from unregulated hate sites, and their implications for Singapore’s political landscape.

According to the report, the government’s internet laws have historically been used to monitor, regulate, and censor online criticism.

Recently, however, these laws have failed to address the rise of hate content and trolling targeting activists, bloggers, independent journalists, human rights lawyers, and opposition politicians, seeking to hold public officials accountable.

This report marks the emergence of political hate sites as the fourth phase in Singapore’s online political history. The first three phases involved stringent regulation of online content, especially criticisms of public officials and policies.

These regulations often led to disproportionate legal actions against individuals or groups demanding public accountability, notably through acts such as the Broadcasting Act, Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act, and the Online Criminal Harms Act.

The report argues that these laws have progressively narrowed the legally permissible space to voice concerns online, leading to tight policing of online opposition political activity, de-legitimisation of critical online content, and legal prosecution of critics.

The emergence of political hate sites, according to the report, is being used to negate efforts by those willing to occupy the remaining narrow legal space to uphold checks and balances. These hate sites target not just activists and opposition figures but also foreign workers and other countries’ political leaders.

These sites, aided by Internet Brigades (IBs), disseminate hate content and misinformation intended to discredit critics and maintain a positive image of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP).

In addition to generating hate content, IBs exploit social media platforms’ community guidelines violation reporting to remove critical content and disable critics’ accounts. This tactic effectively mutes voices critical of government officials and policies.

In one of the interviews conducted by Asia Centre, Hong Kong based academic, Stephan Ortmann, noted that “pro-PAP Internet Brigades work to create an illusion that the majority of Singaporeans support the PAP by creating a large amount of pro-PAP content online” (KII5).

For example, in one case, a Facebook post of Brad Bowyer criticising financial policies saw over 100 comments from fake accounts that shared similar narratives and pointed to similar links that purportedly debunk his claim.

This was corroborated in another interview with Melvin Tan, a long-time observer of the internet political landscape, flagging the fact that “the pro-PAP community has increasingly been generating more positive pro-PAP content” in the online sphere.

The second trend is coordinated actions carried out by IBs. In this case, the distinctive trait of coordinated action is the existence of a common agenda. Political hate sites often attack those with political views that differ from theirs. At the same time, in doing so, they amplify their messages.

In Singapore, political hate sites target those criticising public officials and policies, thus attempting to lift the image of the PAP.

Historian and Managing Editor of New Naratif, PJ Thum noted that hateful messages found on social media pages and online forums have the trait of coordinated behaviour: newly created accounts with false profile pictures repeat false and hateful talking points while avoiding meaningful engagement with other users who challenge their claims.

Notably, the role of IBs distances public officials from direct involvement in such hate campaigns.

In light of these developments, the Asia Centre’s report puts forth several recommendations to address the situation.

It calls for greater international monitoring and documentation of online hate speech, laws compelling enforcement agencies and technology companies to address hate content, and the repeal and amendment of legislation that restricts and censors criticism of public officials and policies.

Furthermore, the report urges tech companies to play a more active role in moderating hate content on their platforms, and to be transparent in their actions. It also emphasizes the need to raise awareness of political hate sites and their mental health consequences through digital literacy and education programmes.

The report affirms the importance of ensuring a safe online environment for expressing policy concerns and opinions. As it stands, hate sites in Singapore have flourished unchecked, leading to systemic online harassment and intimidation.

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Thailand withdraws reservation on refugee children’s rights, welcomed by UN Human Rights Office

Thailand’s withdrawal of its reservation on Article 22 of the CRC is hailed by the UN, marking a key step in enhancing protections for refugee and asylum-seeking children.

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1 week ago

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6 September 2024

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The UN Human Rights Office for South-East Asia (OHCHR) has praised Thailand for its decision to withdraw its reservation on Article 22 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), a move expected to improve the protection of refugee and asylum-seeking children in the country.

Cynthia Veliko, the OHCHR Representative for South-East Asia, hailed the decision, calling it “a significant, positive step” toward aligning Thailand’s laws with international standards. “This move helps protect the rights of all children on the move, no matter their nationality or origin,” Veliko said.

The Thai Cabinet’s decision to withdraw the reservation took effect on 30 August 2024. Article 22 of the CRC ensures that refugee and asylum-seeking children receive protection, humanitarian assistance, and equal access to services provided to national children, in line with international human rights laws to which Thailand is a party.

This withdrawal is also expected to strengthen the implementation of Thailand’s National Screening Mechanism (NSM), introduced on 22 September 2023.

The NSM grants the status of “protected person” to individuals who cannot return to their home countries due to the fear of persecution. However, despite these legal advancements, children without legal status in Thailand remain at risk of being detained in immigration facilities.

The UN has raised concerns over the continued detention of children despite the Thai government’s 2019 Memorandum of Understanding on Alternatives to the Detention of Children (MOU-ATD). The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has reaffirmed that every child has a fundamental right to liberty and should not be detained based on their migration status.

Veliko urged Thailand to focus on ending child immigration detention and adopting human rights-based alternatives.

“Children on the move are children first and foremost,” Veliko stressed, adding that detention due to migration status is never in the best interests of children.

The UN Human Rights Office expressed its readiness to assist the Thai government in developing alternatives to detention, ensuring that all children receive the protection and care they need.

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Civil Society

FORUM-ASIA condemns Myanmar junta’s forced conscription expansion, urges international action

FORUM-ASIA condemns Myanmar’s military junta for expanding forced conscription, calling it a desperate bid to maintain power. The policy, affecting men aged 35 to 60, adds to a long list of human rights violations, including forced labor and the use of civilians as human shields.

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2 weeks ago

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4 September 2024

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The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) has condemned the Myanmar military junta’s recent decision to expand the age limit of its forced conscription policy, calling on the international community to stand in solidarity with the people of Myanmar.

The move is seen as a desperate attempt by the junta to maintain control in the face of a growing pro-democracy resistance movement.

On 25 August 2024, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing announced the introduction of a new “security system with public participation.”

This system would require men aged 35 to 60 to serve as guards, potentially placing them on the frontlines of conflict. The announcement follows the formation of the Central Supervisory Committee for People’s Security and Anti-Terrorism on 16 August, tasked with organizing military training and overseeing “people’s security and anti-terrorism” groups at various administrative levels.

The junta’s plan builds upon the forced conscription policy it implemented on 10 February 2024, invoking the 2010 People’s Military Service Law.

The law mandates men aged 18 to 35 and women aged 18 to 27 to serve two years in the military, with professionals like doctors and engineers potentially serving up to five years. Those who evade service or assist others in doing so face up to five years in prison. As part of this policy, the junta planned to conscript 5,000 individuals monthly from April 2024.

Civilians as Human Shields and Forced Labor

FORUM-ASIA has condemned the junta’s forced conscription policies, highlighting the military’s history of using civilians as human shields and forcing them into hard labor.

The International Labour Organization’s Commission of Inquiry found in October 2023 that the military continues to impose forced labor amidst the ongoing armed conflict, a practice that has escalated since the 2021 coup attempt.

Local news and human rights groups have reported that the junta is also abducting and arresting citizens to use as human shields, further contributing to the human rights violations in Myanmar. Many youths, rather than being conscripted into fighting for a regime they oppose, have fled their homes to join the resistance.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has expressed concern over the junta’s detention and recruitment of Myanmar youth. Meanwhile, Tom Andrews, UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, noted the junta’s increasing use of powerful weapons against civilians as troop losses and recruitment challenges mount.

Call for Action

FORUM-ASIA is calling on the Myanmar military junta to immediately halt its forced conscription, abductions, forced labor, and the use of civilians as human shields.

“FORUM-ASIA urges the international community, including the UN and ASEAN, to thoroughly investigate the Myanmar military junta’s long list of human rights violations. The junta should be held accountable for all its crimes through sanctions and other punitive measures,” said Mary Aileen Diez-Bacalso, Executive Director of FORUM-ASIA.

“The international community must urgently isolate the junta and support the people of Myanmar in their struggle for justice and freedom,” Bacalso added.

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