The new ruling is not a “fundamental shift of policy”. However, while the “light touch” approach to regulating the internet remains, the new licensing regulation put in place by the Media Development Authority (MDA) last week could be expanded to other news sites and even broadcasters, said Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim on Tuesday. Dr Yaacob said: “I think the best way is for people to see, after the licenses are issued, whether activities are indeed limited in their public discourse.” Do these explanations point to a tougher stance by MDA than previously presented? Academic Director of SMU Executive Development social media expert Dr Michael Netzley does not think so. He said: “The additional comments from Minister Yaacob Ibrahim seem to take great pains to emphasise that the potentially broad language will not result in a change in the light-touch approach. I think the minister, in all honesty, hits the nail on the head when he says that the critics admit they were wrong when they see what happens in practice. Time will be the ultimate test. While I would have preferred greater clarity and perhaps a more tightly defined announcement at the start, the elaborations have been helpful and everything I read suggests that day in, day out the average Internet users should not experience any change”.