MDA and the credibility of "alternative media"

Is the MDA making a mountain out of a molehill? 

I don't think they have anything to worry about to be honest. Do you actually trust sites like Temasek Review, The Online Citizen, The Real Singapore, EDMW and the like? 

I have here stats that show the amount of trust that Singaporeans dedicate to online news content. This study was said to be conducted by the Institute of Policy Studies in an effort to understand consumption online.

• Government and mainstream sites are still the most reliable, credible of the lot and still the more trusted.
• 2/3 of Singaporeans don't care about online opinion
• Only 4% of Singaporeans think that what else they read on TOC etc may be true…
• Singaporeans are aware of these sites but do not find them credible at all.

It is with little wonder that these sites are not credible. They act on a whim. They have dubious authors. They react too quickly to rumours and hot tips.

(From "The Real Singapore" - are they just anti- everything?)

Take for example this one:

Apparently rumours were planted to sites like Public House, EDMW, TRS etc. They immediately reacted, albeit too enthusiastically and fell for a trap. Once the air was cleared, they had little choice but to retract their statements.

Their accuracy is also questionable - look at their desire to paint this country in the worst light possible. If they say that the Straits Times is too positive, then they become the reverse of the Straits Times - way too negative.

Everything can be faked on the internet: articles, opinions, photographs, videos. Don't forget the amount of computing technology we have today gives us so much power to do whatever we want to make imaginations come to life.

It takes only a couple of hundred people to make it seem as if the entire population of Singapore is rocking a boat.

It is a voice sure…but it is YOUR voice? 

Think about it.