Can a film - or a blog post - spark a revolution?That must be the question on the minds of some PAP politicians, even as Aims released its recommendations for the Government on how to manage the new media’s influence on Singapore politics.
Four broad recommendations have been put forth: that the Government should be more active in engaging netizens; that Section 33 should be liberalised; that children should be better protected against cyber dangers; and that content hosts should be spared from defamation suits.
While Aims has rightly emphasised that education rather than censorship should be the long-term solution when it comes to consuming new media, this notion currently applies only to protecting children against the likes of pornography or cyber-bullying.
One crucial element has been left out: the implementation of media education in schools and in public. Part of the requirements of a functioning democracy is a well-educated populace that is media literate and well-equipped to discern between balanced and fallacious content.
Click here to read the full article on TOC.
