Introduction
Every government, business and society in the country has to follow the rules and regulations imposed on them by the federal administrative agencies. If they violate these rules and regulations in any way then they are held accountable for their actions and will get punishment by law.
The federal administrative agency design laws such as civil rights, public health and safety laws, consumer protection laws and many others to restrict individuals from committing actions that could harm others or the whole country. These laws are important for a thriving development of the country. However, laws do not always remain the same; they frequently change according to the changing environment of the country. With the passage of time, the world is going through lots of technological, cultural and social changes, which are affecting every sphere of an individual’s life. The needs of government, business or society are changing rapidly. To meet those needs in the most beneficial way, the federal administrative agency is frequently modifying their laws.
Importance of Public Participation in the rulemaking process
The government makes laws for the betterment of society. However, if the public consent is not involved in the law-making process then there is not use of these laws. Therefore, if a government wants to exert control on the society then they have to promote public participation; otherwise, the public will stand against their government which will eventually have to step down
In order to show ‘legitimacy’ and ‘quality’ of the rulemaking process, the two most important features that the government need to include are ‘public participation’ and ‘transparency’. Public Participation means access of citizens, businesses or other non-governmental bodies to comment and contribute towards rulemaking processes. Whereas, transparency means every step of rulemaking process is clearly visible to the public. These two features strengthen the bonds between governmental and non-governmental institutions, which can trust each other. Moreover, the quality of lawmaking processes enhances through these features. A democratic country cannot provide social welfare to the society without these two features
Over the past few years, technology has advanced rapidly. Digital technology mainly, keeps the public updated about whatever is happening not just in their country, but what is happening all around the globe. In addition to that, digital technology like the World Wide Web has allowed citizens to participate with the government in rulemaking process, especially in democratic countries. The public can now give their opinions over the decisions of the government, and the government can take their public into confidence by involving them in important matters. Moreover, the mutual understanding developed with the help of internet helps the government in providing social and economic benefits to the country .
As soon as Barack Obama became the President of the United States of America, his lobby considered an open government their main priority. The President quickly signed the Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government. Following are the examples that prove the openness of President Obama’s government:
- Freedom of Information
In 2009, The President signed the Memorandum on the Freedom of Information Act, which instructed the government agencies to make the information available to the public. After the memorandum was signed the agencies handled lots of public requests and provided them the information, they needed conveniently.
- Data Communities to Spark Breakthroughs for National Priorities
A number of digital websites were constructed for letting the citizens easily access the government information to figure out innovative solutions to important problems that are of national importance.
- Availability of Data
According to the Open Government Plans, the government made huge data available and accessible to the general public through a government platform, data.gov. The data available on this website are on different subjects and easily available to use.
- Disclosure to Increase Accountability and to Promote Informed Consumer Choice
The government has disclosed low-cost and high impact tools to inform the public about their rights in every area of life, for example, nutrition, education, fuel, energy, health and others.
However, besides providing lots of benefits, internet also has some drawbacks that adversely affect the development of a nation. The invention of cybercrimes, pornography, hacking passwords, political debates and other problems has forced governments to regulate internet and censor those websites that promote such activities. Various countries’ governments like People’s Republic of China, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, UAE, Singapore and many others have banned a lot of websites in each of their districts so that no citizen can access inappropriate information and benefit from it while destroying the societal, religious or political norms. In democratic countries the censorship is moderate, but in other countries the governments have even banned different news-broadcasting websites because they promote feelings of hatred between the government and the public. According to the governments of these countries, if internet is not regulated then it bears a serious threat to the country .
Although the American government has provided a lot of internet freedom to their citizens; however, their public still do not own internet privacy. The recent scandal of the NSA agent Edward Snowden proves that American spies on not just its own public, but on other country’s public as well to extract information that help them become more powerful.
Government Regulation over the internet does not promote public participation
"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 19
Since 1948, the international human rights commission has given the authority to the citizens of the whole world to freely express their opinions regarding the matters that concern social, cultural or economic conditions of their countries through any media, including internet .
The public view their government’s control over the internet as a threat to the potential of this medium of technology. These controls have restricted the freedom provided to each and every human through the universal declaration of human rights. They cannot give or promote their opinions over the internet because of the censorship imposed by their governments in their countries. The public does not agree that the bans will stop information or ideas flow from one district to another because of the technological advancement, but it will only promote hatred feelings among the citizens against their government.
The internet censorship promotes the idea that the governments simply do not want the public to participate in the rule-making decisions and other important decisions because they seek their benefits first in them .
Singapore government regulation over the internet
Recently, Singapore has tightened its regulation over the internet, suddenly stopping the flow of information available to the Singaporeans. The Singaporean government does not only censor websites promoting pornography or homosexuality, but it also censors online news websites through different legislations, harassment laws, self-censorship laws and defamation suits. This roared a great resentment amongst the public masses in Singapore .
Singapore is one of the fastest developing countries, and this internet censorship may hinder the nation’s progress. The feelings of hatred rise amongst the citizens against their so called democratic government because they cannot express their opinion or get updated to the latest happenings through internet.
On the other hand, the government of Singapore makes no move to uplift the ban placed over the internet authorities. It has failed to commit to a light touch approach towards internet regulations, which is proven through the legislation that was enacted on 1st July 2013. According to this legislation, online news websites must get licensed individually within two months if they post at least one article per week regarding news on Singapore or their current affairs, and get traffic of at least 50,000 unique IP address from Singapore every month. When given orders, such websites will have to remove objectionable material within 24 hours of being notified .
The government bears strict legislation on the transmission of foreign programmes or the foreign news media commenting on domestic issues. From these activities it is proven that Singapore government regulation does not promote public participation. The restrictions on the media keep the public unaware of most governmental news and they cannot express their opinions freely as well.
Alternative Solution
The controls over internet will further tighten in the future, making it less likely for the public to participate in the rule-making processes or important matters of the government. Following are the ideas for which the citizens should raise voices in the country, and get their opinions heard through courts:
- Introduce an Act containing Freedom of Information
The government needs to introduce a freedom of information act that supports the international human rights standards. This act will help the citizens to easily access online news websites through which they can express their opinions and keep themselves updated with the latest happenings.
- Review the Laws enacted to the Media in the country
There is a need to review the laws enacted to the media, especially to the internet to ensure that these laws support the international standards of freedom of expression. The government has needs to allow funding from foreign sources. It should revise the laws enacted to the publicly owned media companies and privately owned media companies. Amend those laws that promote diversification and discourage monopolies.
- Revise Defamation Laws
Amend the civil defamation law and its application so that no one is able to abuse this act through their expressions. A cap should be introduced to avoid unnecessary damages.
- Revise regulations related to foreign media
Review the restrictions placed on the reporting of foreign media, especially review Section VIII of Broadcast Act to allow foreign media to comment on local issues.
- Revise regulation imposed on the access and content of internet
Review Internet Code of Practice (1997) and its application to ensure that the government does not put controls over the legitimate information from flowing among the public masses. Review the laws that give the editors or journalists the authority to freely express their opinions, and do not held them accountable for what the internet surfers says or do on the news broadcasting websites .
Bibliography
Coglianese, C. (2003). The Internet and Public Participation in Rulemaking. Cambridge: Center for Business and Government, John. F Kennedy School of Government.
Dempsey, J. X. (n.d.). Protecting the Human Right to Freedom of Expression on the Global Internet. Global Internet Liberty Campaign.
Dutton, W. H., Dopatka, A., Law, G., & Nash, V. (2011). Freedom of connection, freedom of expression: the changing legal and regulatory ecology shaping the Internet. Paris: UNESCO publication.
Gomez, J. (2005). Freedom of Expression and The Media in Singapore. London: Article 19.
Josephine, Y. Y. (2013, November 30). Internet Regulation- A myth in Singapore. Retrieved from The Singapore Law Review: http://www.singaporelawreview.org/2013/11/internet-regulation-a-myth-in-singapore/
Wark, R. (2010, November). Should Government Regulate the Internet? Retrieved from Pareto Logic: http://www.paretologic.com/resources/newsletter/should_governments_regulate_the_internet.aspx
