Blogger arrested for Racist Post

A 24-year-old BLOGGER has been arrested for posting a racist rant on his website that has stoked an online firestorm. A computer, believed to have been used to make the post, was seized for investigations. The case came to light following two police reports made on Monday complaining of a virulent online message. The post, which was made on March 18, described the man whom the author saw sitting on the floor of an MRT train, as 'smelling like he didnt showered in years' and said he was wearing 'some really scary dirty clothes'. It went on to make racial remarks about the man, and even challenged anyone of that race to refute what he had written. Lawyer Shashi Nathan stressed that bloggers need to be wary about the fallout from their posts. He said: 'Netizens need to strike a fine balance between freedom of speech and racial responsibility. It affects the country as a whole.' This is not the first time a blogger has got into hot water over a post. In 2005, two people were convicted of posting racist remarks on their personal websites. One was jailed for a month and the other was jailed for one day and fined $5,000. Anyone who deliberately wounds the religious or racial feelings of another may be jailed for up to three years and fined.

(The Straits Times, Singapore)