Under the Singapore Broadcasting Authority Act’s Internet Code of Conduct, ISPs in Singapore must take every effort possible to ensure that material prohibited by the government is not "broadcast" over the internet to users in Singapore. The government exerts control over internet content by channelling all the material that ISPs in Singapore host through a government controlled exchange before it can be displayed on the internet.
The recent amendment to the Parliamentary Elections Act to ban ISPs from hosting foreign political web sites has been viewed as the latest example of unreasonable control by the ruling People's Action Party (PAP). The PAP has held power since the country's independence in the 1960s. A general election is expected to be called in the country within the year and will be the first since the internet became widely available as an information source . Critics see the amendment to the Act as the government's attempt to block rival political propaganda form both home and abroad.
Singaporean web site operators can be fined up to $20,000 (£13,767) and face two years imprisonment under the Act if they fail to register a political site with the government, stating its nature, target, and identifying the publisher.