Singapore's tough libel laws claimed their first blogger today. If you go to Caustic Soda, the blog is gone. All you get is a single-page apology for a post on the Singapore government's science and technology agency website.
"I recognise and accept that a number of statements … were defamatory of A*Star, its chairman, Mr Philip Yeo, and its executive officers," writes Chen Jiahao, a 23-year-old postgrad who posted from the US.
Cross-border disputes over internet content are nothing new. Only last month, Canadians who linked to Captain's Quarters, a US blog, were warned of legal action after its author ignored a publication ban on evidence to an inquiry involving the government.
He and his readers appear to have got away with it - but the Chen case is alarming press freedom activists including the Committee to Protect Bloggers and Reporters Without Borders.
We should all be alarmed at this.
Reuters has more including this:
Singapore-based politicians as well as international media organisations have paid large amounts of damages in libel cases brought by senior government figures.
And now they are going after bloggers.
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