Courts actively foster transparency and public trust: Forum
Courts actively foster transparency and public trust: Forum
Source: Straits Times
Article Date: 18 Jun 2025
Beyond making court hearings accessible, the Singapore Courts are committed to bridging the gap and enhancing public understanding of their work through various initiatives.
We thank Mr Ethan Tan for his Forum letter, 'Encourage more people to attend public hearings' (June 13). We agree that open court hearings are vital for transparency and public trust in our judiciary.
In today's digital age where diverse narratives proliferate, it is even more crucial that the public understands the work of our courts. Witnessing judicial processes first-hand can demystify legal proceedings and foster a more informed citizenry.
To increase public awareness of open court hearings, we actively use SG Courts social media platforms (YouTube, Instagram and TikTok) to provide videos and guides. These resources, with over 360,000 views, offer insights on courtroom decorum and personal accounts of open justice.
We are also simplifying information on hearing schedules on the SG Courts portal to address challenges laypeople might face, and will consider Mr Tan's suggestion to enhance court signage.
Beyond making court hearings accessible, the Singapore Courts are committed to bridging the gap and enhancing public understanding of our work through various initiatives.
Our website hosts all Supreme Court written judgments since 2000, many with summaries for lay readers. Our official WhatsApp channel provides concise summaries of notable judicial decisions for over 17,000 subscribers.
In 2024, our 'Conversations with the Community' series engaged a wider audience as judges explored various aspects of our work. Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon kick-started the series, explaining the courts' dual role (adjudicative and systemic) and the crucial importance of access to justice. Following seven sessions, we plan to consolidate this material into a freely available e-book.
Our student outreach programmes actively engage young people, including a partnership with Kiss92 FM to reach 10,000 students. Our annual 'A Day in Court' features fireside chats with judges and mock court role-playing sessions. Additionally, our 'Justice Awareness @ Heartlands' community outreach initiative brings legal education directly to local communities; a recent session in Woodlands focused on family violence and harassment.
In 2025, we will also hold open houses at the Family Justice Courts and Small Claims Tribunals to foster greater public familiarity with their roles.
Finally, the media plays a crucial role in explaining court cases in layman terms, and we continue to work closely with it. We remain committed to proactive and transparent communication to foster public understanding and trust in our justice system.
Michelle Chiang
Director, Outreach and Engagement
Singapore Courts
Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.
Print
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Singapore Law Watch
7 hours ago
- Singapore Law Watch
Courts actively foster transparency and public trust: Forum
Courts actively foster transparency and public trust: Forum Source: Straits Times Article Date: 18 Jun 2025 Beyond making court hearings accessible, the Singapore Courts are committed to bridging the gap and enhancing public understanding of their work through various initiatives. We thank Mr Ethan Tan for his Forum letter, 'Encourage more people to attend public hearings' (June 13). We agree that open court hearings are vital for transparency and public trust in our judiciary. In today's digital age where diverse narratives proliferate, it is even more crucial that the public understands the work of our courts. Witnessing judicial processes first-hand can demystify legal proceedings and foster a more informed citizenry. To increase public awareness of open court hearings, we actively use SG Courts social media platforms (YouTube, Instagram and TikTok) to provide videos and guides. These resources, with over 360,000 views, offer insights on courtroom decorum and personal accounts of open justice. We are also simplifying information on hearing schedules on the SG Courts portal to address challenges laypeople might face, and will consider Mr Tan's suggestion to enhance court signage. Beyond making court hearings accessible, the Singapore Courts are committed to bridging the gap and enhancing public understanding of our work through various initiatives. Our website hosts all Supreme Court written judgments since 2000, many with summaries for lay readers. Our official WhatsApp channel provides concise summaries of notable judicial decisions for over 17,000 subscribers. In 2024, our 'Conversations with the Community' series engaged a wider audience as judges explored various aspects of our work. Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon kick-started the series, explaining the courts' dual role (adjudicative and systemic) and the crucial importance of access to justice. Following seven sessions, we plan to consolidate this material into a freely available e-book. Our student outreach programmes actively engage young people, including a partnership with Kiss92 FM to reach 10,000 students. Our annual 'A Day in Court' features fireside chats with judges and mock court role-playing sessions. Additionally, our 'Justice Awareness @ Heartlands' community outreach initiative brings legal education directly to local communities; a recent session in Woodlands focused on family violence and harassment. In 2025, we will also hold open houses at the Family Justice Courts and Small Claims Tribunals to foster greater public familiarity with their roles. Finally, the media plays a crucial role in explaining court cases in layman terms, and we continue to work closely with it. We remain committed to proactive and transparent communication to foster public understanding and trust in our justice system. Michelle Chiang Director, Outreach and Engagement Singapore Courts Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction. Print
Straits Times
14 hours ago
- Straits Times
Forum: Courts actively foster transparency and public trust
We thank Mr Ethan Tan for his Forum letter, 'Encourage more people to attend public hearings' (June 13). We agree that open court hearings are vital for transparency and public trust in our judiciary. In today's digital age where diverse narratives proliferate, it is even more crucial that the public understands the work of our courts. Witnessing judicial processes first-hand can demystify legal proceedings and foster a more informed citizenry. To increase public awareness of open court hearings, we actively use SG Courts social media platforms (YouTube, Instagram and TikTok) to provide videos and guides. These resources, with over 360,000 views, offer insights on courtroom decorum and personal accounts of open justice. We are also simplifying information on hearing schedules on the SG Courts portal to address challenges laypeople might face, and will consider Mr Tan's suggestion to enhance court signage. Beyond making court hearings accessible, the Singapore Courts are committed to bridging the gap and enhancing public understanding of our work through various initiatives. Our website hosts all Supreme Court written judgments since 2000, many with summaries for lay readers. Our official WhatsApp channel provides concise summaries of notable judicial decisions for over 17,000 subscribers. In 2024 , our 'Conversations with the Community' series engaged a wider audience as judges explored various aspects of our work. Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon kick-started the series, explaining the courts' dual role (adjudicative and systemic) and the crucial importance of access to justice. Following seven sessions, we plan to consolidate this material into a freely available e-book. Our student outreach programmes actively engage young people, including a partnership with Kiss92 FM to reach 10,000 students. Our annual 'A Day in Court' features fireside chats with judges and mock court role-playing sessions. Additionally, our 'Justice Awareness @ Heartlands' community outreach initiative brings legal education directly to local communities; a recent session in Woodlands focused on family violence and harassment. In 2025 , we will also hold open houses at the Family Justice Courts and Small Claims Tribunals to foster greater public familiarity with their roles. Finally, the media plays a crucial role in explaining court cases in layman terms, and we continue to work closely with it. We remain committed to proactive and transparent communication to foster public understanding and trust in our justice system. Michelle Chiang Director, Outreach and Engagement Singapore Courts More on this Topic Forum: What readers are saying Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Online Citizen
a day ago
- Online Citizen
Singapore tightens digital media laws as trust in news declines to 45%, says Reuters report
Singapore's traditionally tight media regulations have increasingly extended into digital and social platforms. Ahead of the May 2025 general election, authorities enacted a law targeting deepfakes and digitally altered media involving political candidates. The regulation forms part of a broader legislative framework that includes the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) and the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act. These laws aim to manage misinformation and protect public confidence in government institutions. According to the Digital News Report 2025 by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, the new deepfake law prohibits publishing or sharing AI-generated or digitally manipulated content that falsely depicts political candidates saying or doing things they did not. The law is broad, covering both favourable and unfavourable portrayals. It excludes animations, beauty filters, and entertainment-style memes. Platforms that fail to comply with takedown orders risk fines of up to US$1 million. This regulation follows increasing use of visual platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok for news. Usage of these platforms rose by 4 percentage points for YouTube and Instagram, and by 3 percentage points for TikTok. POFMA enforcement and high-profile corrections Singapore's POFMA gives ministers powers to order corrections of online content deemed false or harmful to public confidence. In November 2024, activist Kokila Annamalai received correction orders after alleging arbitrary executions in Singapore's criminal justice system. While Meta and X complied with the correction demands, Annamalai did not and now faces potential imprisonment. The government's rebuttals were posted on its official Factually website. In a separate case, multiple outlets including Bloomberg, The Edge, and The Online Citizen were directed to correct reports involving real estate deals linked to government ministers. Bloomberg noted it complied under protest and reserved the right to appeal. The ministers involved have since filed defamation suits against Bloomberg and one of its reporters. The Online Citizen faces extended restrictions Singapore also extended its restriction on The Online Citizen (TOC), preventing it from earning revenue from its website and social platforms until 2027. This follows its continued status as a Declared Online Location (DOL) under POFMA since July 2023. Originally set to expire on 21 July 2025, the ban was extended by the Ministry of Digital Development and Information on 11 June 2025. Authorities said the extension was necessary due to TOC's persistent publication of alleged falsehoods. However, on 13 June, Mary Aileen Diez-Bacalso, Executive Director of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), expressed serious concern, criticising the move as a troubling use of POFMA to silence dissent and suppress free expression, and urged the government to stop further eroding Singapore's shrinking civic space. Terry Xu, chief editor of TOC, described the extended DOL as a clear act of oppression against independent media and a targeted attack on the outlet. 'If the DOL were applied strictly according to the letter of the law, then Bloomberg and The Edge should have been subjected to the DOL as well, since they were issued Correction Directions containing more than three statements deemed false,' Xu argued. He also noted, 'It is particularly noteworthy that the Correction Directions involved in the declaration are linked to Minister K Shanmugam — the very person who introduced the POFMA law in the first place.' Mainstream media adapt through AI and consolidation Despite the regulatory environment, mainstream outlets such as Channel News Asia (CNA) continue to be trusted and widely used. CNA, part of the state-owned Mediacorp group, leads online news usage at 47%. Its broader media network includes Channel 5 and Channel 8, each with a 23% weekly reach. CNA has also expanded internationally to the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada as of March 2024, marking its 25th anniversary. However, Mediacorp also made strategic consolidations. In early 2024, it shut down TODAY, a digital newspaper once Singapore's second most-read outlet. The decision aimed to refocus resources towards CNA's digital newsroom, which now produces long-form weekend content. Mediacorp has been investing in semi-automated production processes such as FASTs—AI-generated news summaries aimed at mobile and social-first audiences. The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) also released updated training guidelines urging media professionals to gain skills in generative AI and virtual production. The Reuters survey shows 7% of respondents have used AI chatbots to access news content. Digital-native outlets and language diversity The second most-used digital news platform in Singapore is Mothership at 46%, followed by the Straits Times, published by SPH Media Trust. SPH also operates Lianhe Zaobao (8% reach), Berita Harian (4%), and Tamil Murasu (1%), catering to Singapore's multilingual population. Yahoo! News, which ranks fourth in usage at 21%, recently shifted to full content syndication, laying off its editorial and social teams. This move signals industry-wide pressures on traditional news production. The report confirms a continued shift in news consumption habits. Social media and digital channels are now the primary sources of news. Platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook held steady, while younger-skewing services saw modest growth. In contrast, traditional platforms such as television and print have seen steep declines in use over recent years. Public trust in news continues to slide Public trust in news fell by 2 percentage points to 45%, despite legacy brands maintaining relatively high individual trust scores. The Straits Times (75%), CNA (74%), and Channel 5 (73%) were the most trusted among respondents. Alternative and independent outlets continue to lag behind in public trust, attributed to their shorter histories and focus on viral or controversial content. Singapore ranked 126th out of 180 in the 2024 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders. Despite a technologically advanced media ecosystem, restrictions under POFMA and similar laws continue to limit media independence.
