Newspaper and Printing Presses Act 1974 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 3 · Newspaper Companies
19. Funds from foreign source for the purposes of a newspaper other than commercial purposes prohibited
Feedback & supportSubject to this section, a person must not, on or after the grant or renewal of a permit under section 21, receive on behalf or for the purposes of any newspaper to which this Part applies any funds from a foreign source without the Minister’s prior approval.
newspaper
“newspaper” means any publication containing news, intelligence, reports of occurrences, or any remarks, observations or comments, in relation to such news, intelligence, reports of occurrences, or to any other matter of public interest, printed in any language and published for sale or free distribution at regular intervals or otherwise, but does not include any publication published by or for the Government;
The Minister may grant approval if the Minister is satisfied, on any information that the Minister may require to be provided to him or her, that the funds from a foreign source are intended for bona fide commercial purposes.
Despite subsection (1), where any funds from a foreign source are sent to a person without the person’s prior knowledge, consent or solicitation and the funds are intended for or given by the donor for the purposes of the newspaper, that person must, within 3 days of the receipt of the funds, report the circumstances and particulars of the receipt of the funds and the purposes for which the funds were received to the Minister.
Where funds from a foreign source have been received by a person for the purposes of the newspaper under subsection (3) and the Minister refuses to approve the retention of those funds, the person must, within the time that the Minister specifies —
return them to the sender of the funds; or
if the sender cannot be traced, the funds must be donated to any charity specified by the Minister.
In this section —
“foreign source” includes —
the government of a country outside Singapore or the agent of any such government, whether resident in Singapore or otherwise;
any company, association or society incorporated or constituted under any law in force outside Singapore whether or not it has a branch office or place of business in Singapore;
company
“company” means a company incorporated or registered under the Companies Act 1967 or under any corresponding previous written law;
any person who is not a citizen of Singapore whether or not the person is resident in Singapore;
any —
body corporate formed or incorporated in Singapore, one or more of whose members or directors are not citizens of Singapore, or in the case of a member being another company, where one or more of the members or directors of the company are not citizens of Singapore; or
unincorporated association or body constituted under any law in force in Singapore, one or more of whose members or directors are not citizens of Singapore, or in the case of a member being another company, where one or more of the members or directors of the company are not citizens of Singapore,that the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, declare to be a foreign source for the purposes of this section; or
any other source outside Singapore that the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, declare to be a foreign source for the purposes of this section;
“funds” means money, securities, movable or immovable property or other valuable consideration;
“funds from a foreign source” includes funds provided by a foreign source indirectly through any agent of the foreign source.
Nothing in this section applies to any dealing by any person in the shares of a newspaper company quoted on a stock exchange in Singapore.
newspaper company
“newspaper company” means a public company limited by shares which has complied with section 10;
Any person who contravenes or fails to comply with subsection (1), (3) or (4) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $50,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both and the Court may, in addition to any other penalty that it may impose, order the forfeiture to the Government of any funds which are the subject of the charge.
Any journalist who, having received any funds from a foreign source for printing or publishing any news item or article or for adopting a particular line or bias in respect of any news item or article, fails to report in writing within 7 days to the managing director of the journalist’s newspaper company the receipt of those funds shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to the penalty prescribed by section 35.
journalist
“journalist” includes an editor, a sub-editor, an editorial writer, a reporter and any other person whose business it is to edit or write for a newspaper;
Any funds received from outside Singapore by a journalist are presumed to be from a foreign source unless proved to the contrary.