November 2, 2020

The International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists is held annually on 2 November to condemn violence against journalists. Fortunately, the rule of law in Singapore is strong and journalists here are able to do their jobs with little fear of violence. However, the Singapore government’s strict control of information disseminated online has had an effect on Singaporeans’ willingness to publish information and their opinions in cyberspace. Despite this, Associate Professor Cho Hichang (NUS Department of Communications and New Media) and Dr Carol Soon (Institute of Policy Studies), in ‘Flows of Relations and Communication among Singapore Political Bloggers and Organizations: The Networked Public Sphere Approach’ (Journal of Information Technology & Politics, 2011), found that Singapore’s online spaces are opening up as political actors are increasingly using the internet to share information, promote alternative perspectives, and establish networks with like-minded people.

The networking patterns among Singaporean political individuals and organizations in cyberspace were of particular interest to A/P Cho and Dr Soon. They found that among a sample of 149 websites, political bloggers are the key players in the network. Bloggers had the highest in-degree counts (measured by the number of hyperlinks directed to their sites within the network) as compared to other groups such as news media agencies and political parties. They are also well-connected within themselves. In contrast, discussion forums, advocacy groups, and news media were isolated from one another within their own clusters; A/P Cho and Dr Soon attributed this finding to the competitive nature of their categories and the differences in purpose and audience across sites in their categories.

A/P Cho and Dr Soon conclude that the internet has allowed individuals and groups to overcome regulatory controls in the real world and bypass traditional media to publicise their agenda. Furthermore, exploring the interconnectedness and popularity of actors online helps uncover political communities and pertinent issues that strike a chord with the regular Singaporean.

Read the article here.