Watch your blog

You might have heard of the bloggers in Singapore that were jailed for "sedition" last year because of critical remarks about Muslims.

Now that elections are coming to our country, bloggers need to be especially alert. During the election period, they may not write about any politicians in a way that either praises or criticizes them, otherwise they will be breaking the law by campaigning on the internet.

Apparently, this also includes reporting on what was said at political rallies.

More guidelines can be found in a newspaper article today:

"So, quite simply, from the time the writ for the GE is issued and until the elections are over, they are legally not allowed to indulge in anything that can be construed as campaigning.
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Nor can blogs conduct 'political advertising' using any medium, including film or video, clarified the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (Mica).
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Welcome to the real world, bloggers.
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'Not only are the majority of bloggers unaware of the laws, I think that they would just continue to assume that what they do or write is within the boundaries,' said blogger Benjamin Lee, more commonly known by his online moniker, Mr Miyagi.
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The coming GE will be interesting because it will be the first since blogs exploded on to the scene and became such a popular mode of exchanging views and information.
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Those interviewed were in unison about one thing: The laws are broad enough to allow the authorities to prosecute offenders as and when necessary. Whether they do so, however, is another issue altogether.
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Which begs the question: Exactly what is allowed when it comes to writing about politics and the GE during the election period?
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Such OB markers are difficult to pinpoint, and it's unrealistic to expect the laws to be drafted to address every single situation, said Mr Charles Chong, a member of the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Information, Communications and the Arts.
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Hiding in cyberspace?
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Could a blogger, say, write about his favourite Member of Parliament on his blog?
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'If you do write political content praising or criticising a politician outside an election period, it's not violating the PEA. But if it is during the election period, then you are subject to the laws,' said Mr Siew Kum Hong, the director of Keystone Law Corporation, a law firm
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Still, many bloggers felt it would be possible to hide in the vast anonymity of the Internet, especially if they used sites that were hosted out of Singapore.
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One such site that was set up last "