Southeast Asia, etc. #3 Singapore: Fake News - a podcast by Dene-Hern Chen

Singapore's broadcast and print media have long been under the government's control, while the Internet remains the last place where news outlets can function independently. But the government's recent proposal of a new law to combat online fake news -- which will join a whole litany of existing laws regulating free speech -- has civil society and journalists worried. Especially since officials have yet to properly define exactly what "fake news" is...

"What’s difficult is to try to explain just how things kind of work. So there isn’t really oppression that you can see very clearly most of the time, and if you talk to average Singaporeans, they are actually quite likely to happily tell you that it’s pretty free."

GUEST: Kirsten Han is a Singaporean freelance journalist who reports on politics, as well as social justice issues like the death penalty and migrant workers rights. She is also the editor-in-chief of NewNaratif, an online platform for Southeast Asian journalism.

Further episodes of Southeast Asia, etc.

Further podcasts by Dene-Hern Chen

Website of Dene-Hern Chen