IMDA suspends The Online Citizen's class licence; website told to stop posting content by Sept 16

[SINGAPORE] The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) has suspended the class licence of The Online Citizen (TOC) website and its social media channels.

In a statement on Tuesday, IMDA said the socio-political website has repeatedly failed to comply with its legal obligation to declare all sources of funding since around the middle of last year.

TOC will be required to stop posting content on its website and social media channels by 3pm on Thursday, IMDA said. If it continues to be in breach of the requirements, its class licence could be cancelled by Sept 28.

TOC is one of two websites that are currently classified as registered Internet content providers (ICPs) by IMDA. The other is The Independent Singapore.

Other past examples of websites include Six-Six News and The Middle Ground, both of which are no longer in operation.

Such websites, which provide content focused on party political issues in Singapore and engage in online promotion or discussion of these issues, are required to declare their sources of funding. "This is to prevent such sites from being controlled by foreign actors, or coming under the influence of foreign entities or funding, and to ensure that there is no foreign influence in domestic politics," IMDA said.

This requirement has been in place since 2013.

Mainstream news websites are not considered ICPs as they are regulated separately under the Broadcasting Act and the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act.

Under the regulations for ICPs, all funding must be declared by default.

While subscription and advertising revenue may be exempted from the declaration requirement, IMDA said such sources of funding must not be used as a "loophole for foreign influence and funding".

It noted that TOC offers a subscription framework under which those who pay a S$120 yearly fee can have TOC write articles on a specified topic, without having to declare their identity. This is tantamount to allowing subscribers to commission content, IMDA noted. "This is a cause for concern as it could be used as an avenue for foreign influence," it added.

IMDA said the legal entity TOC Pte Ltd first registered as an ICP in 2018 and declared its funding sources in accordance with the requirements. The Straits Times understands that the TOC website was operated by a different legal entity before 2018.

However, since 2019, TOC has not fully complied with this obligation, IMDA said.

The authority noted that TOC had failed to verify a donor and to clarify discrepancies in its foreign advertising revenue in its 2019 declaration, for which it was issued a warning on May 4 this year. "For its 2020 declaration, TOC repeatedly failed to declare all its funding sources despite multiple reminders and extensions," IMDA said. "TOC had also informed IMDA that it does not intend to comply with its obligations under the law." TOC was then given a final opportunity to explain its non-compliance by Tuesday.

In its response to IMDA, TOC offered to make a declaration that it was not receiving foreign funding on the condition that IMDA agrees not to seek further clarifications on its subscription framework and funding sources, the authority said.

But the requirement for TOC and other ICPs to declare their sources of funding is a legal one, and is not a matter for negotiation, said IMDA. It, therefore, rejected TOC's offer.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday, lawyer Lim Tean of Carson Law Chambers, who represents TOC, said the discrepancies were "simple accounting mistakes". He also accused IMDA of hypocrisy and inconsistency for allowing Critical Spectator website and Facebook page to comment on Singapore affairs and politics despite it being run by a foreign commentator, Polish national Michael Petraeus.

Mr Lim added that TOC intends to challenge the suspension of its class licence by way of a judicial review.

THE STRAITS TIMES