Singapore Gov’t on Facebook – Reaching Out or More Control?
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By Stanislaus Jude Chan Absolutely nothing, if you consider the measures already in place. The nanny-state has closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras on every public train and bus, and hundreds more stalking street corners. Government-controlled telephone and Internet provider, Singtel, possibly already knows all it needs about Singapore’s 4.6 million inhabitants. In that light, it is almost naive to call the Reach Facebook group a threat to privacy. An acronym for “Reaching Everyone for Active Citizenry @ Home”, the agency drew ire on the Internet after it launched its Facebook profile on Jun. 27, 2008, to engage Singaporeans by leveraging on platforms with high youth presence. Singaporean Koh Choon Yoong, on his blog, accused Reach of violating Facebook’s terms of use. Reach Singapore originally signed up for a user account, which is meant for individuals. The site forbids individual users from registering for a user account on behalf of a group or entity. The agency fixed the problem shortly after, migrating the individual profile to a group page. But users noticed that Reach Singapore's original profile had been changed to ‘Ho Chee Har’ – the administrator of the organisation's new Facebook group. “I was surprised to see such an abrupt change. I'm glad that I didn't add Reach Singapore as my friend, or else my Facebook personal information would be have been divulged to Ho Chee Har,” IT consultant Lee Sing Chyun was quoted in local media as saying. Ranging from discussions on costs of living and business woes, to marriage and health, topics on Reach’s Facebook page fall into two broad categories: either a hollow echo of news from the Home section of mainstream media, or complaints from individuals hoping to be heard. CYBER HELPLINE Indeed, the site is threatening to turn into a platform for assorted grievances. Facebook user Anna Tek, for example, wrote to complain that she had been awoken at 9.30 a.m. on two consecutive Saturdays by rag-and-bone men making their rounds at her apartment block. In another thread, user Eric Ko’s protests against hidden costs by Tiger Airways, Singapore’s budget airline. While one of Reach’s Facebook administrators, Shauna Lim, promised to forward his feedback to the relevant authorities, it is the comments left by other Singaporeans that struck a chord. “Whilst I agree it is good to have a governing body – I feel that in situations like this, individuals should take action by contacting and sorting out the matter with the company themselves first. I personally feel it is a bad habit to bring big brother in like a little boy at the slightest upset,” said Benjamin Chiang. Reach’s goal of engaging with Singaporeans on government policies and national issues on Facebook does not appear to have taken off. At last count, less than 15 individual discussions have attracted more than 10 replies each. However, criticism on the government’s Facebook invasion borders on nitpicking. Facebook users have to actively join the group before their profiles are accessible for viewing by the government group. As critics argue, if privacy is an issue, simply give social networking sites like Facebook the cold shoulder. HI-TECH SURVEILLANCE But when it comes to CCTV and telecommunications surveillance, the Orwellian state knows no boundaries. In 1999, a public uproar erupted after news reports that SingTel had scanned the computers of some 200,000 customers -- without their knowledge -- and would continue to do so in a bid to protect, according to a SingTel spokesperson, “the interests of [its] customers” from the threat of Internet viruses. SingTel admitted to the act, but denied that it was an invasion of privacy. It was “a value-added service” to ensure that there were no loopholes in consumers' systems that hackers could exploit, said company directors, likening it to employing a “policeman patrolling in cyberspace”. A decade after the initial privacy invasion fiasco, it is unclear if SingTel is still scanning private consumer data. However, given the company’s self-righteous attitude toward its actions and the fact that there have been no statements until now declaring otherwise, consumers can only expect the worst. Fighting the bogeyman – anything from threats of terrorism and racial riots, to dissenting political voices – is a common strategy used by the government to justify its laws and policies. In 2008, authorities unveiled 223 new all-weather CCTV cameras, in addition to more than 100 already in operation, in a bid to “deter crime” and combat terrorism. In an island state measuring just 683 sq km, that works out to approximately one camera every two sq km – not counting thousands of other electronic eyes already used in public trains and buses, "up to 12 cameras" in every school, and countless other privately-owned surveillance devices that the government is given access to by law. In contrast, the government’s incursion into the Internet, Facebook included, is a softer approach aimed at winning over an increasingly Internet-savvy electorate. According to the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore’s latest figures, some 74 percent of households had access to the Internet. The government is “mounting a quiet counter-insurgency against its online critics”, reported ‘The Straits Times’ in 2007. Prior to its latest foray into Facebook, the government – through the Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) group under its control – bought over IT media company Hardware Zone, including its print magazines and online portal, for a whopping 7.1 million Singapore dollars (4.89 million U.S dollars) in 2006. Joining the fray to win over the Internet, the younger generation of ruling People’s Action Party MPs born after 1965 – dubbed by mainstream media as the Post-65 MPs – have banded together to write on a weblog. The Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports has also started an online portal to engage younger Singaporeans. With deep pockets and the ability to leverage on traditional print media for publicity, it is difficult to imagine that the government’s Internet offensive will be denied success. Already, web traffic statistics speak for themselves, with SPH websites sweeping top spots in 9 out of the Top 10 Award categories from July to September 2008, according to a study by international online research specialist Hitwise. But six months after its high-profile launch, graced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Reach’s Facebook group has just over 1,730 members and less than 160 discussion topics in total. Interestingly, a group dedicated to the memory of opposition leader J B Jeyaretnam, who passed away in September 2008, boasts more than double that figure with some 3,500 members. But the ensuing hullabaloo by netizens over Reach’s seemingly minor Facebook gaffe sends an underlying message that the Singapore government’s feedback arm will do well not to miss: Authoritarianism is not welcome on the Internet. (END/2009) |
Aung Htun (not his real name) is one of the young video journalists featured in the award-winning feature documentary 'Burma VJ (Reporting from a Closed Country)'. 
