Policing the Internet

I found this statement in Singapore Notes:

In the CNA Talking Point episode "Policing The Internet", MP (Tampines GRC) Baey Yam Keng claimed that the Ministry of Law sees the internet as another platform for real world criminals to operate from, and people need to be protected from fraud, cyber-bullying, etc. The timing of gazetting online blogs had nothing to do with policing the internet, he said with a poker face. While at it, he might as well add that the president's addendum had nothing to do with the online revelations about the circumstances of his son's 12 year deferment. The wording of the Ministry of Law statement on the subject goes like this:"The proliferation of new media has brought about new challenges to the rule of law and the ministry will review legislation to deal with harmful and unlawful online conduct". Smells like a good-cop-bad-cop routine is in play.

I am in favour of policing the Internet to make sure that it is useful for lawful purposes. This is to prevent people from doing harmful things while remaining anonymous. I know that it is difficult to police the Internet but it should not deter us from taking the challenge.

The first step is to lay down the law clearly and identify what are offences and crimes. Some examples are:

• Defamation
• Bullying
• Telling lies
• Cheating

These are offences in the real world, so it should not be different in the Internet world. The next step is to enforce the law and take action against the culprits. This is not different in the real world. Someone will report to the Police of an alleged crime. The Police will have to investigate and gather evidence to find out the culprit and charge the culprit in court. 

The next challenge is to have sufficient people to do the work. There is no short cut to enforcing the law - you need policemen and public prosecutors. These are good jobs - much better than having more people to be insurance and property agents!

I am also in favour of a requirement that people posting statements should be identified. They can use a pen name, but their real name should be registered somewhere and can be traced for accountability. I do not support people giving views and statements under anonymous cover, as the lack of accountability can lead to bad behaviour.

Some people feel that they have to be anonymous to avoid bullying by the people in power. This is not a good reason. If the people in power act badly, we should vote them out of office. But if they are elected, we have to live with the consequence, i.e. obey the rules and the law - including speaking with accountability.