Undesirable Publications Act 1967

This Act is the Undesirable Publications Act 1967.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —“authorised officer” means a person appointed under section 18(3) by the Minister to be an authorised officer for the purposes of this Act;“broadcast” has the meaning given by section 27 of the Copyright Act 2021 and “broadcasting” has a corresponding meaning;“Chief Controller” means the Chief Controller appointed under section 18(2);“circulation”, in relation to any publication, includes the exhibition or supply thereof;“controller” means a person appointed under section 18(1) by the Minister to be a controller;“electronic transmission” includes facsimile transmission, electronic mail or other similar means of communication but excludes broadcasting;“exhibit”, in relation to a sound recording, means to play that sound recording but does not include the broadcasting of the sound recording;“film” has the same meaning as in the Films Act 1981;“importer”, in relation to any article, includes any person who, whether as owner, consignee, agent or broker, is in possession of, or is in any way entitled to the custody or control of, the article;“objectionable” and “obscene” have the meanings given to them by sections 4 and 3, respectively;“periodical publication” includes every publication issued periodically or in parts or numbers at intervals whether regular or irregular;“place” includes any vehicle, vessel, train or aircraft, whether in a public place or not;“prohibited publication” means any publication the importation, sale or circulation of which has been prohibited under section 5;“publication” means any of the following other than a film:

any book, magazine or periodical, whether in manuscript or final form;

any sound recording;

any picture or drawing, whether made by computer graphics or otherwise howsoever;

any photograph, photographic negative, photographic plate or photographic slide;

any paper, model, sculpture, tape, disc, article or thing —

that has printed or impressed upon it any word, statement, sign or representation; or

on which is recorded or stored for immediate or future retrieval any information that, by the use of any computer or other electronic device, is capable of being reproduced or shown as any picture, photograph, word, statement, sign or representation,and includes a copy of any publication;“sound recording” means any tape, disc or other recording of sounds from which the sounds may be reproduced but does not include any soundtrack of a film;“supply”, in relation to a publication, includes —

supply not only in its physical form but also by means of the electronic transmission of the contents of the publication;

supply by way of hire, exchange or loan; or

in the case of a publication comprising a tape, disc, article or thing on which is recorded or stored any information for immediate or future retrieval by the use of any computer or other electronic device, transferring or reproducing or enabling another to transfer or reproduce by electronic transmission the whole or part of the contents of the publication onto another such tape, disc, article or thing for immediate or future retrieval.

For the purposes of this Act, a publication is obscene if its effect or (where the publication comprises 2 or more distinct parts or items) the effect of any one of its parts or items is, if taken as a whole, such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it.

For the purposes of this Act, a publication is objectionable if, in the opinion of any controller, it or (where the publication comprises 2 or more distinct parts or items) any one of its parts or items describes, depicts, expresses or otherwise deals with —

In determining for the purposes of this Act whether or not any publication is objectionable, the following matters shall be considered:

The question whether or not a publication is objectionable is a matter for the expert judgment of any person authorised or required by or pursuant to this Act to determine it, and evidence as to or proof of any of the matters or particulars that the person is required to consider in determining that question is not essential to its determination except that if such evidence or proof of such matters or particulars is available, that person shall take that evidence or proof into consideration.

The Chief Controller shall keep and maintain a Register of Objectionable Publications containing all publications which any controller determines to be objectionable.

If the Minister is of opinion that the importation, sale or circulation of any publication or series of publications published or printed outside Singapore or within Singapore by any person would be contrary to the public interest, the Minister may, in his discretion, by order published in the Gazette, prohibit the importation, sale or circulation of that particular publication or series of publications or all publications published or printed by that person.

If an order made under subsection (1) specifies by name a publication which is a periodical publication, the order shall, unless a contrary intention is expressed therein, have effect with respect to —

If an order made under subsection (1) prohibits the importation, sale or circulation of all publications published or printed by a specified person, that order shall, unless a contrary intention is expressed therein, have effect not only with respect to all publications published or printed by that person before the date of the order but also with respect to all publications so published or printed on or after that date.

An order made under subsection (1) shall, unless a contrary intention is expressed therein, apply to any translation into any language of the publication specified in the order.

The Minister may at any time revoke, vary or amend any order made under subsection (1).

Any person who imports, publishes, sells, offers for sale, supplies, offers to supply, exhibits, distributes or reproduces any prohibited publication or any extract therefrom shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction for a first offence to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both, and for a subsequent offence to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 4 years.

Any person who without reasonable excuse has in his possession any prohibited publication or any extract therefrom shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction for a first offence to a fine not exceeding $2,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both, and for a subsequent offence to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years.

In any proceedings against any person for an offence under subsection (2), that person shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved, to have known the contents and the nature of the contents of any publication immediately after such publication came into his possession.

Any person —

Any person who fails to comply with subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.

Any —

If any prohibited publication or extract therefrom is found in such package or article, the whole package or article may be impounded and retained by the officer and the person importing, distributing or posting it, or in whose possession it is found, may forthwith be arrested by such officer and proceeded against for the commission of an offence under section 6 or 7, as the case may be.

In this section, “senior officer of customs” has the same meaning as in the Customs Act 1960.

A court before which any proceedings are taken under this Act, if satisfied that any document produced in the proceedings is a prohibited publication or an extract therefrom, shall, whether the alleged offender is convicted or not, order such publication or extract therefrom to be forfeited to the Commissioner of Police, who shall order it to be destroyed or otherwise disposed of in such manner as he thinks fit.

Whenever it appears to any Magistrate upon information and after such inquiry as he thinks necessary that there is reasonable cause to believe that in any premises or place there is concealed or deposited any prohibited publication or extract therefrom, the Magistrate may, by warrant directed to any police officer, empower that officer to enter such premises or place by force if necessary to search for, seize and detain any such publication.

Whenever it appears to any police officer, not below the rank of sergeant, that there is reasonable cause to believe that in any premises or place there is concealed or deposited any prohibited publication or extract therefrom, and he has good grounds for believing that, by reason of the delay in obtaining a search warrant, the object of the search is likely to be frustrated, the police officer may enter and search such premises or place as if he were empowered to do so by a warrant issued under subsection (1).

Any person who —

makes or reproduces, or makes or reproduces for the purposes of sale, supply, exhibition or distribution to any other person;

imports or has in his possession for the purposes of sale, supply, exhibition or distribution to any other person; or

sells, offers for sale, supplies, offers to supply, exhibits or distributes to any other person,any obscene publication (not being a prohibited publication) knowing or having reasonable cause to believe the publication to be obscene shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both.

Any person who —

makes or reproduces, or makes or reproduces for the purposes of sale, supply, exhibition or distribution to any other person;

imports or has in his possession for the purposes of sale, supply, exhibition or distribution to any other person; or

sells, offers for sale, supplies, offers to supply, exhibits or distributes to any other person,any objectionable publication (not being a prohibited publication) knowing or having reasonable cause to believe the publication to be objectionable shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.

If information is given upon oath to a Magistrate that there is reasonable cause to suspect that there are in any premises or place any obscene or objectionable publications (not being prohibited publications) by means of or in relation to which any offence under section 11 or 12 has been or is about to be committed, or any equipment used or intended to be used for the purpose of exhibiting, making or reproducing those publications, the Magistrate may issue a warrant under his hand by virtue of which any police officer, controller or authorised officer named in the warrant may —

The court before which a person is charged with an offence under section 11 or 12 may, whether he is convicted of the offence or not, order that any publication that appears to the court to be a prohibited publication, an obscene or objectionable publication, and any equipment used or intended to be used for exhibiting, making or reproducing the publications in the possession of the alleged offender or before the court, be destroyed or delivered up to the Minister for disposal in such manner as the Minister may direct.

Where —

Any police officer may arrest without warrant any person found or reasonably suspected of committing or attempting to commit or of procuring or abetting any person to commit any offence under this Act, or reasonably suspected of the unlawful possession of any article liable to forfeiture thereunder.