From June 1, websites that regularly report Singapore news and have significant reach will require individual licenses to operate.
Currently, most websites are covered automatically under a class licence scheme. But the Media Development Authority (MDA) will require websites to be individually licensed once they meet two criteria.
These are: if they report an average of at least one article per week on Singapore's news and current affairs over a period of two months, and have at least 50,000 unique visitors from Singapore each month over a period of two months. The individual licenses have to be renewed every year.
Under the new framework, these sites must also put up a performance bond of $50,000, similar to that required for niche TV broadcasters.
In a press statement, the MDA said: “This will place them on a more consistent regulatory framework with traditional news platforms which are already individually licensed.”
The licence makes clear that online news sites are expected to remove content that is in breach of MDA standards within 24 hours, once notified to do so.
For refusing to comply with any of the conditions, MDA has the power to ‘impose financial penalties or suspend or revoke the incumbent’s licence’. However the authority will investigate any breaches before deciding on the appropriate penalties.