Social media has engaged us in many aspects of our lives,
from online marketing and shopping to networking and to the dissemination of
news and information. As more people embrace social media, many online
platforms proliferate. One such example in Singapore is the STOMP platform that
was created and maintained by the Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), which aims to
engage netizens in the sharing of first-hand information.
The STOMP official website allows netizens to contribute
articles and information via uploads of photos and videos, as well as news
articles on a real-time basis. However, it appears that some netizens have been
misusing it for online shaming which sometimes tantamounts to harassment and
the invasion of personal privacy. In some instances, netizens resort to posting
fabricated photos just to gain the attention of fellow users. One such example
is the photo of an elderly standing in front of a NS man in uniform and seated
in a train. The photograph was posted on 24 Mar 2014 by one of the netizens. He
sparked public outcry by complaining about the NS man’s perceived lack of
graciousness conduct for not giving up his seat to the elderly. However, in
actual fact, there was a reserved seat meant for elderly citizens just a few
seats away. The elderly probably chose to stand. This post inevitably portrayed
an inaccurate perception of the NS man who by virtue of the uniform he was donning
represents the Singapore Armed Force. There was also a recent photo of a man
who dozed off in a train. The man inadvertently revealed his private parts as
his legs were spread wide apart while seated on the train. The photograph was shared
on STOMP on 28 Jan 2015 before going viral online. This had likely put the man to
shame and embarrassment. Some feel that SPH allows insensitive articles and
articles which have not been rectified for their accuracy to be uploaded on STOMP
at the expense of other citizens. While SPH owns the site, it states in its
terms and conditions that it holds no responsibility and control over the content
contributed by the third-party users. (STOMP, (n.d.))
While STOMP involves netizens in the information sharing of
first-hand news, SPH should set guidelines to make sure photos and information
put up online are accurate, do not infringe privacy of others or constitute harassment
before they are approved to be disseminated.
There was an online petition created by retail executive
Robin Li in April 2014 via an international campaigning site change.org for the
closing down of STOMP website as he felt that “STOMP had failed to rectify and
set simple sensible guidelines before any irresponsible netizen contributes a
fabricated story without getting the right facts.” (Li, 2014) To date, the petition has
gathered more than 24,000 signatures. It was unsuccessful in bringing STOMP
down, but garnered a response from the Singapore media regulator, the Media
Development Authority (MDA) to say that “it will not influence the editorial
slant of websites but will take firm action if there is a breach of public
interest or the promotion of racial and religious hatred or intolerance.” (The Straits Time, 2014) While
this message from MDA serves as a warning to citizen contributors, articles such
as the one depicting a man’s private may not deemed to fall within the category
of breaching public interest or promoting hatred and intolerance. In fact, the
photograph was published on STOMP after MDA’s response.
Notwithstanding the concerns with the Stomp Platform, a
complete closure of STOMP may be extreme as STOMP can still be an interactive
platform supporting citizen-journalism. It also encourages interaction and
sharing of first-hand information amongst netizens almost on a real-time basis.
SPH could perhaps step in to regulate the content of reports submitted by contributors
by filtering articles containing elements of harassment or infringement of
personal privacy prior to being published online. When there is a video or
photo uploaded that speaks ill of a particular type of behaviour, SPH may need
to make sure that the faces of the featured citizens are blurred to prevent identification.
While this requires input from SPH in terms of resources and will invariably delay
the publication of articles submitted by contributors, such vetting could be
important in fostering a healthy online environment. Being the owner of the
platform, besides drawing to the attention of contributors that they are
responsible for the contents posted subject to the terms and conditions imposed
by SPH, it may be helpful for SPH to include a checklist of the standards
expected of the contributors before they can post their articles. This is
likely to promote responsible online behaviour amongst them.
With the proliferation of social media platforms like STOMP allowing freedom of contributors to post and share information, social
responsibility from contributors become paramount. I hope that if SPH steps in
to moderate content posted on STOMP, it can help to promote good social habit
of contributors and create a healthy online environment.
(823 words)
References
STOMP. (n.d.). Terms and
Conditions.
Li.
R. (2014, April). Close down
STOMP.com.sg. Change.org.
