Due to the recent amendments to the Parliamentary Elections Act (PEA) which was first announced on 25th July 2001 by the government, Think Centre has decided to remove the Speakers' Corner Online (SCO), one of the well-known features of our website http://www.thinkcentre.org.
Most individuals, if not all, who post their comments at SCO remain anonymous. Ideally, we would prefer individuals use their actual names, but we do not have that kind of ideal situation in Singapore where people are willing to write without fear. At times some postings contain foul language and have taken on personal attacks. As such we have maintained that we are not responsible for the things that are written. The SCO was meant to be a conducive environment for freedom of speech.
Our "Acceptable User Policy" for the SCO, realising the liberating potential of the Internet, states, among other things, "The Centre will not be held responsible nor liable for any legal action brought about due to the postings on SCO". This was to ensure that people can hold on to their freedom of expression and at the same time develop internal codes and self-regulating practices.
However, according to the current amendments to the PEA, the Centre can be charged for an offence even though the postings were by an anonymous individual.
Think Centre has always put the names, sometimes even photographs, of the authors of the reports and articles on our website. In fact, that's our way of being transparent in what we do.
We do not agree with this amendment to the PEA which was brought before Parliament without consulting all political parties and groups concerned. This is not how an important public policy on information flow is formulated in country that is reputed to globalised and a front runner in Information Technology. It is in protest that we remove the Speaker's Corner Online from our website.
MELVIN TAN
Communications Director
Think Centre
