Press Freedom

Freedom of the press is regarded by some as a basic right in modern society. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference, and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers".

Some western organisations such as Amnesty International and Freedom House regard several Asian countries, including Singapore and Malaysia, as having no or not enough freedom of the press.

In Singapore, this is because all locally published newspapers are owned by subsidiaries of the government, which also largely controls radio and television outlets.

However, the coming of the internet has considerably reduced the government's previous monopoly on information in recent years.