The bill includes provisions toban anyone from taking videos or photographs of the area of a serious incident,such as a terror attack. Police can also ban communication of text or audiomessages about the security operations in the area.
[Singapore proposes new bill to bar communications from terror attack sites]
The Singaporean government saidaffluent financial hubs are prime targets for insurgents, and during attackselsewhere live broadcasts unwittingly helped attackers to anticipate movesagainst them.Josephine Teo, second Ministerof Singapore’s Home Affairs Ministry, stressed that the measure would only beapplied in specific areas and would be lifted when security operations areover.
Reporting is allowed, just notlive reporting and only selected media agencies are allowed to access the areafor later coverage, she added.
The law is part of a PublicOrder and Safety (Special Powers) Bill 2018.
The terrorist threat facingSoutheast Asia is growing as fighters return to the region. Given this fact,regional defence ministers have pledged to boost multilateral cooperation tocounter terrorism.-VNA