Issue: Should the mass media be censored?
DescriptionThe article talks about the different issues involving using information technology to educate the public and using censorship to prevent any “ unsuitable “ information from circulating around the net. Singapore wants to harness information technology for its development, however, its citizenry also wants censorship controls in place. Hence the articles show how censorship and information technology can compromise with each other.
POV 1 (interpretation)
The internet with its large data based of information is perceived as dangerous and spreads negative values to the people. The government thus finds a need to enforce on censorship. If there is no censorship in place, there may be social unrest and the social cohesion in Singapore will be broken. This caution may be due to a history of racial riots, seen as a result of the uninhibited reporting of news events. Without censorship, Singapore will not be as peaceful and riot-free as present.
Assumption: Censorship is an essential too to maintain racial and social cohesion in Singapore.
POV 2
The degree of censorship varies throughout the different types of information. Sensitive issues such as racism are more heavily censored as compared to the arts as they are deemed as more artistic. However, due to the extensive coverage of the internet, it is almost impossible to censor everything that is deemed “ unsuitable “ for the masses. If this action is implemented, there will be a uproar among the netizens. For eg. In NUS, Students and staffs assess different servers, the students’ servers are heavily censored and less information is accessible to them as compared to the staff’s’ server.
Young people get influenced by the information on the internet, hence, the need to censor is there so as to not allow young minds to be negatively influenced and learn the wrong values.
Taken from: http://www.isoc.org/inet95/proceedings/PAPER/132/
Issue: Should the mass media be censored?
The roles of the Mass Media are to inform, educate and entertain. The roles are defined by the public as the public prescribes what it wants and its expectation of the Mass Media. As it is easily accessible, efficient and convenient, it is popular among the general public. It is upon the Mass Media to fulfill the criteria set by the public. However, there has to be limitations to what they can present to the public. As such, censorship exists.
Like what Albert C. Gunther and Ang Peng Hwa wrote in their article ‘PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS OF TELEVISION INFLUENCE AND OPINIONS ABOUT CENSORSHIP IN SINGAPORE’, it is a common assumption that in many countries mass media censorship is imposed by an authoritarian government on an unwilling public. In Singapore, the Media Development Authority (MDA) takes on the role of developing and managing the different forms of Media. The MDA promotes the growth of the media industry and manages content to protect core values and safeguard consumers’ interests by implementing censorship.
Though some may feel that censorship restricts them from showcasing or voicing out their artistic point of views, the majority feel that the Mass Media will have a negative effect on them if uncensored. Censorship ensures that controversial material that will cause conflict in our multi-racial and globalizing nation will not come to light. This enforces the harmony and togetherness in Singapore.
The mass media may be seen as invasive or pervasive. People like celebrities may find the mass media invasive. With the paparazzi following them everywhere and taking pictures endlessly, these celebrities feel suffocated as their private lives are being watched from every possible angle. It is due to these unforgiving circumstances that celebrities are for censorship in which limitations and boundaries are set.
However, people like film directors will strongly object to censorship as when it is applied to their films, they feel that the true meaning and artistic perspectives in the film cannot be showcased properly which causes the film to lose its significance. Censorship in this case may be seen in a negative light as it prohibit’s the general public from appreciating the true value of the film.
Censoring the mass media is also an arduous task. The mass media is a vast media, with many different components. Implementing censorship for all forms is a laborious tasks that requires a large amount of manpower. For example, it is not easy to set the boundaries when it comes to the Internet which may seem vague to many Internet users.
In all, the mass media should be censored but the rigidness of this censorship should differ for different media forms. In the case of films, it should be censored in a way that it does not hinder the true message of the film from getting to the viewers.
Issue: should the media be censored?
The article is about the film festival director talking about the censorship in Singapore in the politics, arts and the film sectors. It is saying that the People's Action Party (PAP) government and its stifling restrictions on democratic rights and civil liberties. Not only that the Undesirable Publications Act and the Films Act, allows the government to ban, seize, or censor any written, visual, or musical materials it perceives threaten the stability of the State, are pro-communist, promote drug use or contravene public morals. Naturally, films selected for the annual international festival come up against the country's strict censorship laws which shows the conflict between the politic and the film sector. For example, two weeks after pledging that Singaporean officials will allow greater artistic freedom. The officials censors the movie called ‘Lies’ which is about high school girl's affair with a middle-aged sculptor, and also insisted on three cuts to In the Realm of the Senses, Oshima Nagisa's 1976 classic film about a sadomasochistic relationship between a young female innkeeper and her employer.The director also talks about how the censorship code impacted on artists and filmmakers in Singapore and the overall cultural atmosphere and causes conflict.
First Point Of View:
In the Realm of the Senses is a 24-year-old classic. It is discussed all the time in film literature and to show this film cut at a festival would be a travesty and not fair to history. Therefore, the film was withdrawn to continue preserving the integrity of the film and the festival. In my opinion, they are just giving excuses to stop the films from being shown at the film festival as the content in the film does not meet the criteria of Singapore. Since the movie was quite famous in film literature, therefore we should watch it and find what was great about the film.
Second Point Of View:
Not only that the conflict between government censorship and the artistic freedom and open information provided by the Internet: “At this point the Internet is a liberating force in that it is still not controllable.Although there are signs that it may be brought under control and you see all these big mergers and joint ventures and so on. If those guys have control of this market then the differentiation that now exists will be lost."
Third Point Of View:
The government are strict about censorship as they fear that certain information in movies can pollute the young minds. Therefore, they introduced the rating system to help ensure that people watch films that are suitable for their age.However, the internet defeats the purpose of the rating system as we are able to download the films in which some we are not allowed to watch for our age. Also, Internet allows us to get greater access to certains things such that cannot be found in printed form
Fourth Point Of View:
It is that due to some reason the censors want to cut a festival film and we have to abide by the rule, refuse and withdraw the film. "But the next stage for us, I think, is to have the Film Festival exempted completely from censorship. This is what we need to work towards.” By doing this it wil allow us to show greater artistic film and the director perspectives on certain things such as politics without worrying it getting censored. In order to acheive this goal we need to change the mindset of certain group of people especially the govenment.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2000/apr2000/sff3-a24.shtml
Done by: Sarah Shakeela Sean Gerald (s^3.G)
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! pink's the colour!! ;D
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