User:Robertsky/sandbox/drafts/Broadcasting Act (Singapore)

The Broadcasting Act 1994 is is a statute of the Parliament of Singapore that enables authorities to regulate the broadcasting of media on various services.

The law was written in anticipation of the vast changes in the broadcasting of multimedia. Initially, it reformed the television broadcasting industry, the law was subsequently used to license certain online news platforms as well. Further enhancements to the law have been made to the law as well to further impose codes of conduct on social media services operating within Singapore.

History
Television broadcasting was introduced to Singapore in 1961 as a tool to incalcate the masses with government approved messaging. In 1988, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew recognised that the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) would face competition in light of technological transformation and innovations in the industry, such as the advent of pay television. With the formation of the Ministry of Information and the Arts in 1990, the government set out to reform the industry in preparation for the future. This culmulated in the enactment of the Broadcasting Act in 1994. Cherian George of The Straits Times equated the drafting of lasting and relevant laws for a fast growing, and most unpredictable industry to planning for a party without knowing the guest list. The bill would:


 * 1) privatise SBC;
 * 2) incorporate Singapore Broadcasting Authority as the statutory board, regulating who can broadcast what, "as it sees fit"

It was noted that the definition of broadcasting in the Act was broad enough to include transmission on computer networks, however Minister George Yeo stated that computer network would be exclude at the start.