Ideology of survival : freedom of expression, Internet regulation, and political legitimization in Singapore

The advent of information technology has generally been heralded as a force for the breakdown of authoritarian political control. Especially the Internet is seen as a forum for public information and democratization that escapes all forms of political motivated censorship. On the other side, there are few studies on the relationship between new information technology and non-liberal political structures. This thesis addresses this relationship by analyzing the political culture, and the media, in Singapore. Singapore possesses authoritarian characteristics, and there is extensive and sophisticated control over the information flow. The authorities seek to control and sensor media content in order to protect "national values" and political stability. At the same time, one can find one of the most comprehensive strategies for the development of IT in the world. The duality, the wish for being number one on new information and communication technology, combined with a strong wish to censor the information flow that comes with the new, as well as the traditional, technology, seems like a paradox, and is the reason why Singapore presents itself as a fascinating and essentialcase study. The thesis consists of two main parts. First, Singapore s political system and some innovations made to its system by the government, is examined. I will examine various ways the opposition is being repressed, and the extent to which its acceptance is related to the choice between wealth and liberty, the lack of a critical intellectual elite, the predominance of a Confucian ethic, and the distinct features of the concept of kiasuism. Then I discuss whether the political monopoly in Singapore is rationalized through an elitist ideology, which depicts government as a technical process that must be the preserve of a meritocracy. In the second part, both regulations towards traditional and new media will be analyzed. The analysis of Internet content regulation will focus on three areas: legal framework, technical measures, and self-regulation. Within each area I will show how the government coercion on the political arena as well as within the traditional media, has impelled stability in such a way that coercion within the new media becomes unnecessary. This has resulted in a situation where individuals voluntarily comply with the government s plan for development and regulation of the Internet