Online Racism towards the minority races in Singapore
With the widespread use
of social media, people are increasingly expressing their opinions publicly
online. Some of these opinions lack respect and sensitivity, especially
when they become racist. Racist commentary
about minority groups on the social media is no longer rare in Singapore
because users take their internet freedom for granted and the consequences of
their irresponsible use of social media are not being heavily monitored by the
Media Development Authority (MDA). Racism is the idea or belief that
characteristics and abilities are attributed to people on the basis of their
race, and that some racial groups are superior to others (Shah, 2010). The
increase in the number of racist commentaries on the minority races in
Singapore is worrying as this will threaten the racial harmony and social
cohesion that the Singaporean government wants to preserve. The internet provides a platform for people
to voice out their opinions without revealing their true identity. They feel
“empowered to be far more insulting when communicating through a modem than in
real life” (Younge, 2012). This problem may be tackled if MDA can collaborate
with social media agencies like SMC4 to automatically remove racist comments or
block users who use the social media irresponsibly. The Ministry of Education
in Singapore can also urge schools or academic institutions to stress on educating students
about online racism.
An example of an
irresponsible use of social media is when Ms Amy Cheong posted a profanity-laced remark
on her Facebook account slamming Malay void deck weddings and also mocking the
divorce rates of the Malay community (Tan, 2012). For the racist remarks she
posted, Cheong was given a warning from the police and was also fired from her
job as Assistant Director of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC). For
racism in Singapore, a law was introduced by the Singapore Legislative Council. According to Chapter 290 of the Sedition Act
1964 (SIN), anyone that “promote feelings of ill-will and hostility between
different races or classes of the population of Singapore…shall be guilty of an
offence and shall be liable on conviction for a first offence to a fine not
exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to
both”. The punishment Cheong received from the police and
law was deemed
insufficient to compensate for her irresponsible actions,
which had threatened the social cohesion and racial harmony in Singapore. There
were also not many follow-ups on the consequences she faced, which might have given
people the impression that posting racist commentaries online is acceptable. As
a result, the internet regulations addressing racism in
Singapore have also been regarded as a myth (Yip, 2013). MDA can only monitor a
few out of the 5.47 million people in Singapore. In order to tackle this issue,
MDA can work with social media agencies such as Facebook as well as SMC4 that
provides protection against social media abuse and brand damage. SMC4 instantly
removes inappropriate online commentaries, including profanity, racism and
sexist posted on social media platforms (SMC4, 2015). SMC4’s protection may
help to reduce the increasing number of racist commentaries in Singapore.
Singaporeans or Media Development Authority need not have to go through the
hassle of filtering the internet or reporting any irresponsible users as the
racist comments will be removed immediately. If malicious users persistently
attempt to post racist commentaries, Facebook has the authority to remove them
(Facebook, 2015).
Since the law has
been insufficient to curb
the problem of online racism in Singapore, another possible
solution is that the Ministry of Education (MOE) should continue to urge
schools to stress on educating students about the responsible use of internet
focusing towards online racism in social media. During the Cyber Wellness
Student Ambassador Programme (CWSAP) 2014 Conference, Ms Ho Peng,
Director-General of Education addressed the potential risks of Internet despite
its opportunities for learning especially for students who are active
participants of the cyber space. She also continued
with the importance of peer
education to raise “understanding of various cyber wellness issues such as
cyber bullying and Internet safety” (Cyber wellness, 2014). This initiative
should be carried on as it is easier and
will be more effective to approach students via their peers who belong to the
same age group (Briggs, 2013). Schools can also design talks or quizzes to get
an idea of how much do the students know about online racism on social media.
This approach is meant
for an early prevention. It is imperative to start educating people on internet
ethics when they are of a young age as they have the ability to remember and
apply it for the rest of their lives (Garrett, 2003). There have been cases of
online racism such as the case on two 17 year old youths who were arrested for
posting racist remarks on their respective Facebook and Twitter accounts
(Singapore Police Force, 2012). Schools can use real
life cases to illustrate the impact of online racism on the society as well as
the consequences of the irresponsible use of social media. Schools can also
work together with parents to educate their children about online racism at
home as some students might prefer listening to their parents instead. When
students start engaging in the use of social media, they might become more
conscious of what they can or cannot post on their social media accounts, and
they might also know how to react to racist commentaries they encounter on the
internet in the future.
In
conclusion, early prevention provides a better solution to the responsible use
of internet which affects online racism. Although the law is one way to curb
online racism from occurring, it is still insufficient to compensate for the
damage online racism may potentially cause. It is then necessary to inculcate
the impact and consequences of online racism onto young minds to prevent
Singaporeans from posting online commentaries on the social media in the
future.
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References
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