SINGAPORE - Three groups have been removed from the list of political associations, the Registrar of Political Donations told The Straits Times this week.
They are: socio-political website The Online Citizen (TOC), and non-governmental organisations Open Singapore Centre and Singaporeans for Democracy.
Under the Political Donations Act, the Government can declare an organisation to be a political association as long as the organisation's objectives or activities "relate wholly or mainly to politics in Singapore".
Political associations have to declare its donations - including the identity of large donors. They are also not allowed to receive donations from foreign sources.
TOC was de-gazetted because it now has just one person responsible for the development of its content, and no longer meets the definition of a political association, the Registrar said.
The website, previously run by a community of writers and editors, was gazetted a political association in 2011. It had submitted the names of five responsible officers to the Registrar then.
Since 2011, TOC's management has undergone changes, and it is now owned by a company and operated by one individual - editor Terry Xu.
As for the other two groups, they were taken off the list because they are now defunct.
With the removal of the three, there remain just two gazetted political associations here: human rights group Maruah and non-governmental organisation Think Centre.
TOC will continue to face difficulties receiving foreign money, except for bona fide commercial purposes, as it continues to be regulated under the Broadcasting Act.
The owners of TOC have to register with the the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) under the Broadcasting (Class Licence) Notification, which does not allow owners of licensed websites to receive foreign funds, except for "bona fide commercial purposes".
Websites owned by a company will be informed by IMDA that they have to register if they discuss political or religious issues or operate an online newspaper.
Last month, the previous owner of TOC - a company by the name of The Opinion Collaborative - was made to return $5,000 in advertising revenue to a firm in the United Kingdom.
It returned the money "under protest" after its appeal against an IMDA order to return the money was unsuccessful.
