or any corporation or group of individuals
who provide any programme on the internet. There are three forms of licences for ICPs under
MDA's licensing framework. Firstly, an individual licence. Second, an automatic class licence
and third, an automatic class licence with the requirement to register with the MDA.
So let me elaborate on these three categories. First, the individual licences are issued
to content providers which offer a television service through the internet. Examples are
MediaCorp's Toggle and xinMSN, and individual licences are also issued to news portals that
report regularly on Singapore's news and current affairs and enjoy significant reach among
Singaporeans. So 10 online news licences have been issued since the scheme was implemented
on 1st June 2013. That's the first category. The second category of licensing applies to
the rest of the ICPs which are regulated under an automatic class licensing regime
that has been in place since 1996. These licencees do not need to apply to MDA for individual
licences, but they are automatically class-licensed once they operate their websites, and this
remains the primary route through which the vast majority of websites on the internet
are licensed. By virtue of their class licence, the ICPs have to comply with the conditions
under the Broadcasting (Class Licence) Notification and the content guidelines in the Internet
Code of Practice. ICPs that fail to abide by the code can be taken to task by MDA for
having their class licences cancelled or suspended. Since 1996, MDA has not had to cancel or suspend
any ICP, which also means that it has not had to prosecute any party. Finally, the third
category would apply to certain types of ICPs to which class licences are granted automatically,
but with the condition that they register with the MDA. Paragraphs 3 - 5 of the Schedule
of the Broadcasting (Class Licence) Notification spell our the types of ICPs that need to
register with MDA and they include ICPs who are political parties registered in Singapore
providing any programme through the internet, and ICPs who are "a body of persons engaged
in the propagation, promotion or discussion of political or religious issues relating
to Singapore through the internet". MDA also reserves the right to require ICPs who are
in the business of providing, through the internet, an online newspaper for a subscription
fee or other consideration or who are individuals providing any programme for the propagation,
promotion or discussion of political or religious issues relating to Singapore through the internet
to register with it. So these are provisions already provided for and spelt out clearly
in the schedule, and the need to move from automatic class licences to class licences
by registration only occurs when an individual or body meets these criteria which is spelt
out in the Schedule. What does registration entail? It is fairly straightforward and would
only require the applicant to provide relevant information such as contact details, a brief
description of the website, key personnel operating it and any information that might
shed light on possible foreign funding. There are currently 8 websites run by political
parties, 39 websites involved in the propagation, promotion or discussion of religious issues
relating to Singapore, and 4 websites involved in the propagation, promotion and discussion
of political issues relating to Singapore registered under this notification. As the
regulator, MDA also exercises the discretion to invoke the clauses consistently and if
there are developments or trends suggesting a need to require registration on a new group
or category of entities, and to register them in a different form or manner, MDA will do
so and it is in this context that I would like to elaborate a little bit on MDA's decision
to register 'The Independent' in July last year and most recently 'The Breakfast Network'.
As members would be aware, in July last year, MDA asked 'The Independent' to register under
the Broadcasting (Class Licence) Notification. Although 'The Independent' describes itself
as a newspaper, it was also clear from it's stated aim of bringing in-depth perspective
and analysis on political issues in Singapore that it intended to engage in the propagation,
promotion and discussion of political issues related to Singapore. Furthermore, the Government
had received specific information which gave it cause for concern over foreign interests
to fund 'The Independent'. So MDA asked the providers of 'The Independent' to register
and as part of the registration to sign an undertaking not to receive foreign funding.
It is a long-standing principle that foreign entities are not allowed to engage in Singapore
politics. Foreign interests should also not be allowed to control, or worse, to manipulate
our local media platforms which are prime vehicles for influence. And this is not in
itself new, this principle. All the 12 sites which MDA has previously registered for providing
political content had already been gazetted as political associations under the Political
Donations Act and hence, are already prohibited from receiving foreign funding. What is different
in the case of 'The Independent' is that it had not been gazetted as a political association
and part of it's business plan was to obtain subscriptions and advertising revenue. Therefore,
MDA had required as part of the registration, that it signs an undertaking not to receive
foreign funding. It is also for this reason that MDA had revised the registration forms
to include such an undertaking and the undertaking only requires that the organization does not
accept foreign funding and it is not a blanket prohibition on funding which would render
the site's intended business plan unworkable, so that particular prohibition applies specifically
to foreign funding. The case of 'The Independent' revealed potential problems when sites which
engage in the propagation, promotion and discussion of political or religious issues structure
themselves as corporate entities to receive investments, including from foreign sources.
Now in the case of newspapers operating under permits issued under the Newspapers and Printing
Presses Act, there are clear provisions to allow newspapers to be subject to provisions
controlling foreign influence. The Broadcasting Act, which ICPs are regulated under also
recognizes this principle but the class licence does not contain specific provisions against
this as this particular scenario of foreign funding was not recognized back in 1996 when
the class licence was first designed. Having noticed this, MDA decided that cases similar
to 'The Independent', where sites operated by corporate entities that engage in the propagation,
promotion or discussion of political or religious issues, and which had a greater possibility
of coming under foreign influence through foreign funding would be dealt with in the
same way, and that's why MDA asked 'The Breakfast Network' to register. MDA had earlier said
that it would look into introducing more comprehensive safeguards within the Broadcasting Act to
prevent foreign interests from influencing local politics through the Singapore media,
whether in print, broadcast or online, but it was necessary for MDA to act in the interim
and to ensure that the providers of 'The Independent' and 'The Breakfast Network' are aware of the
conditions from the outset rather than for them to accept foreign investments into their
corporate structure only to have to unwind this later. This would have caused them even
more problems. The principle of not accepting foreign funding is something which responsible
operators agree with. In fact, 'The Independent' has stated that it accepts this principle.
So in summary, the class licence with the requirement to register is not new. It has
been part of the licencing framework under the Broadcasting Act since 1996. In the cases
of 'The Independent' and 'The Breakfast Network', these have not been gazetted under the Political
Donations Act but they are running websites by corporate entities with the aim of engaging
in the propagation, promotion or discussion of political issues relating to Singapore
and MDA saw the need for them to sign an undertaking not to receive foreign funding as part of
the registration. The class licence with registration is an integral part of our licencing framework
and it has been used selectively but consistently and this is the regulatory approach that MDA
will continue to undertake in the future.