SINGAPORE, Dec 17 (dpa): Former Singapore news and comment publication The Online Citizen on Thursday (Dec 16) lost its legal bid to have its website and social media pages restored after they were taken down earlier in the year.
The Online Citizen had been effectively banned in September, with its website and related pages removed for allegedly refusing to disclose foreign funding.
The publication's lawyer Lim Tean said on Thursday that the latest 27-page ruling, which suggests the government can has licensing powers over social media pages, "makes the operation for any media outlet in Singapore unfeasible, especially one such as TOC, which is dedicated to promoting free speech and free press."
However he added that the ruling means The Online Citizen could operate a website from outside Singapore.
The Online Citizen had earlier in the year lost a defamation case involving Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, whose father Lee Kuan Yew was the city-state's first and longest-ruling premier.
The family had in the past won several lawsuits against international media, which despite Singapore's long-standing restrictions on media and freedom of speech, have typically sought a base in the city-state.
A wealthy finance and investment hub, Singapore has in recent years been further downgraded in press and civil liberties rankings by organizations such as Reporters Without Borders and CIVICUS Monitor, and was not invited to a recent "democracy summit" hosted by the US. - dpa
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