Former owner of The Online Citizen website ordered to return ad payment from UK entity

SINGAPORE - The former owner of socio-political website The Online Citizen must return S$5,000 in advertising revenue received from a foreign entity in April 2015, Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim has decided.

Dismissing The Opinion Collaborative’s claim that the transaction was purely commercial in nature and should not be regarded as foreign funding, Dr Yaacob upheld the order made in 2016 by the then-Media Development Authority (MDA), which the entity contested.

In April 2015, the Collaborative had received the money from Monsoons Book Club Limited – which is registered and based in the United Kingdom – for an online essay competition that was advertised on The Online Citizen’s website.

The Collaborative, which owned the website from April 2014 to Sept 2015, said in a media statement on Monday (Jan 29) it has complied with Dr Yaacob’s order, “but under protest” as its directors disagreed with all the minister’s justifications for upholding the MDA’s order.

In response to media queries, the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) said: “It is a longstanding principle that foreign interests are not allowed to control or manipulate our local media platforms. Recent events globally have demonstrated the risks of foreign interference in political discourse.”

The Collaborative has to submit documentary proof to the Info-communications Media Development Authority that it has complied with the order, the ministry added.

One of Monsoons Book Club’s directors is former Singapore student leader Tan Wah Piow, who has been living in political exile in the UK.

On its website, the club describes itself as an “association of concerned individuals interested in books and ideas relevant to the social, political and economic progress in the South East Asian region”.

The Collaborative was previously registered under the Broadcasting (Class Licence) Notifications as an internet content provider that publishes reports on Singapore’s political issues. It was found by the MDA to have breached licensing conditions which prohibit foreign funding for the “provision, management and/or operation of the website except bona fide commercial purposes”.

The MCI said on Monday (Jan 29) evidence submitted by the Collaborative in its appeal showed that it was aware of the restrictions on foreign funding and “had structured the transfer of S$5,000 in order to circumvent these, by making it look like bona fide commercial advertising. On this basis, the Minister upheld (the) decision”.

The entity’s directors, on the other hand, expressed “grave concerns about the implications the Minister’s decision has on the open and fair business environment that Singapore prides itself in fostering”.

Mr Tan Tee Seng, a director, said the loss of S$5,000 could have “seriously crippled us”.

“At the end of the say, we are a volunteer-run outfit with a social cause, heavily dependent on good partnerships and not big money investors,” said Mr Tan, who is general manager of The Agora, a space at Midview City which the Collaborative founded.

Monsoons Book Club has separately donated S$6,000 to the Collaborative for its work as a social enterprise.

The Collaborative said it has “steadily built its business” through The Agora, which has hosted activities such as forums, screenings and book launches and houses some members of civil society.