From M/Cyclopedia of New Media
International Positions
With a global information centre such as the internet it is interesting to consider the ways other countries have implemented mechanisms to regulate the content. It is relevant to consider the approaches of the United States, Singapore and the People’s Republic of China.
United States
The United States Government produced a report in July 1997 that accentuated a non-interventionist approach to internet regulation. Regardless of this, in 1998 the 105th congress enacted legislation mostly protecting children and copyright. Previous to this the Communications Decency Act 1996 had been enacted; however it was deemed unconstitutional in the ACLU v. Reno case. The American right to freedom of speech has been interpreted to include forms of media including art and images and has limited the government’s ability to regulate internet content. </br>
Aside from regulations protecting children, the Internet has been left largely unregulated by the US. Additionally, as the Internet is not supervised by any specific federal agency and the government has adopted an ‘arm’s length’ policy, only the threat of future regulations by lawmakers encourages the development of self-regulation. (Rodriguez, 2001, p370)
Singapore
“The Singaporean government has been a world leader in developing strategies for new media development, as part of its plans to be an ‘Intelligent Island’ and a leading global info-communications hub� (Flew, 2002, p196). Singapore has had to deal with a few more complicated issues than most nations.
In developing Internet content regulations, Singapore had to resolve the obvious tension between its aggressive IT growth strategies that allowed colossal amounts of uncensored information into the country via the Internet and the government’s traditional restrictions on media (Rodriguez, 2001, p364). The regulation of the internet has been in motion for longer than in most other countries. In 1996, Singapore decided that there would be no distinction between the regulation of traditional media and the internet and the responsibility of internet content was taken from the Telecommunications Authority of Singapore and given to the Singapore Broadcasting Authority (SBA).
The SBA adopted the following three pronged approach to encourage Internet development:
(a) promotion the public awareness of positive aspects and hazards of using the publication education.
(b) Encouraging the industry to set its own standards through industry self regulation; and
(c) Instituting a light-touch policy framework in regulating content which is regularly fine-tuned based on consultation (Rodriguez, 2001, p365).
The SBA has established a Class Licensing Scheme and Internet Code of Practice which means that Internet Service Providers have to register with the SBA and comply with their content restrictions. While there is unspoken pressure on the ISPs to remain within the boundaries of the Internet Code of Practice the SBA has found it virtually impossible to regulate the internet. (Rodriguez, 2001)
People’s Republic of China
China is subject to heavy restrictions on traditional broadcast media which are successfully implemented. Chinese people connected to the internet are largely accessing international news sites to gain a diversification of content. “Growth in Internet usage has been rapid in China, with the number of users increasing from about 3 million at the end of 1998 to 33.7 million in March 2002� (Cyberatlas 1998, 2002 in Flew 2002, p196) Chinese authorities have recognised the difficulties in regulating a global information medium and are adopting a solution similar to Singapore. This means that Internet Service Provides are encouraged to gain licences to upload their content and the threat of having their licences revoked looms if there is material contrary to the government’s interests.
Kathryn Badger 10:19, 28 Oct 2004 (EST)
Other Relevant Wiki Entries
[[Internet_Pornography_Censorship:_Regulation_and_Responsibility]]
E-commerce_and_the_Law-Development_of_Uniform_Laws
[[Internet_Pornography_Censorship:_Censorship_in_China ]]
Kathryn Badger 10:19, 28 Oct 2004 (EST)
References
- Flew, T. (2002) New Media: an introduction, Australia: Oxford University Press
- Joseph C. Rodriguez, A Comparative Study of Internet Content Regulations in the United States and Singapore: The Invincibility of Cyberporn Available at http://www.hawaii.edu/aplpj/1/09.html 25 September 2001 in Yee Fen Lim. (2003) Cyberspace Law: Commentaries and Materials, Victoria, Australia: Oxford University Press.
Kathryn Badger 10:19, 28 Oct 2004 (EST)
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Kathryn Badger
