Singapore

Singapore’s political environment is stifling. Citizens continue to face severe restrictions on their basic rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly through overly broad legal provisions on security, public order, morality, and racial and religious harmony. The government silences and punishes critics by using defamation laws and the archaic offense of “scandalizing the judiciary.” The media are regularly censored, particularly for discussions of domestic politics or positive depictions of LGBT people. The rights of the LGBT community are severely curtailed: sexual relations between men remains a criminal offense, and there are no legal protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.