Singapore GE 2011 - Internet and Politics (Week 10)

With Singapore's general elections just around the corner, the use of internet when it comes to politics is an issue that is frequently being discussed. Just recently, it was reported in the news that Singapore has chose to ease rulings on internet elections advertising for the upcoming Singapore GE 2011.

This is good news for political parties as candidates and their election agents will now be able to make use of a broader range of new media platforms to conduct election advertising on the Internet. These changes follow the amendments to the Constitution as well as the Parliamentary and Presidential Elections Act which was introduced just last year.

This basically means that internet elections advertising can now be conducted through a wide variety of social media platforms such as podcasts, videocasts, blogs, MMS and electronic media applications such as those found on mobile phones. It also includes microblogs such as Twitter, social networking sites such as Facebook, and photo-sharing platforms such as Flickr.

Experts predict that the relaxation of the rules could make this year's elections much more challenging. According to statistics, about one-third of the more than 2.35 million voters are under the age of 35 and these voters are all avid users of new media platforms.

"Traditionally the communication channels are one way- from the person who wants to say it to the public. This time round, what is different is that the public can now react and there can be interaction and really it will depend on whether the players are clever enough to create this interactive loop," said Dr Gillian Koh, senior researcher at the Institute of Policy Studies.

The Mp for Hong Kah GRC, Zaqy Mohamad felt that the current changes are keeping "in synch with the times."

"Today many political campaigns involve the new media. Also, many MPs have new media presence and without this policy many would be concerned if election campaigning online has to stop. With this relaxation, it means that the online space would be more vibrant and election will probably continue into not only the regular channels, that is the mainstream media, but also on the new media. "

Personally, I feel that the changes that have been made are very important ones. Not only will the inclusion of new media platforms change the way that campaigners reach out to the public, but I feel that this is also a way to get youths more involved in politics in Singapore. Bringing politics and the discussions and news for the Singapore GE 2011 onto new media platforms gives youths easy access to the information. Youths are tapped in to new media platforms, and bringing Singapore politics to these platforms will definitely increase the likelihood of youths becoming more aware of what is going on, and could also be a stepping stone to getting more youths involved in politics in Singapore.