Mothership.sg, a website that doesn't charge its readers any money for clicking to read its viral content, was informed by the Media Development Authority (MDA) on July 16, 2015, that they are required to be individually licensed under Section 8 of the Broadcasting Act.

Currently, 10 sites belonging to the Singapore Press Holdings, MediaCorp and Yahoo are regulated by this license, where part of the licensing requirement is the posting of a S$50,000 performance bond.

After mulling over the decision, Mothership.sg have since said they will comply with the regulation so that readers can continue to have highly clickable and shareable content to consume and disseminate on social media for the betterment of Singapore.

Here is Mothership.sg's full statement:

On July 16, 2015, we were informed by the Media Development Authority (MDA) that we are required to be individually licensed under Section 8 of the Broadcasting Act.

Currently, 10 sites belonging to Singapore Press Holdings, MediaCorp and Yahoo are regulated by this license. Part of the licensing requirement is the posting of a S$50,000 performance bond.

One of the considerations we had as we were mulling over the decision if we should comply, was that S$50,000 is a big sum of money for a small team like ours.

But if S$50,000, like an election deposit, is the price to pay for us to continue to serve our community, we shall accede to MDA’s request to register under Section 8 of the Broadcasting Act and will comply with the laws of the land.

We are officially the 11th website to be individually licensed in Singapore.

Since our launch in February 2014, we have received much support from Singaporeans. More than 1.2 million readers in Singapore consume and share our content every month and our community continues to grow.

The advances made in digital media has offered businesses and organisations a glimpse into the future of advertising and communications, and the future is digital. We shall position ourselves to be a part of this future and to grow along with this space.

Times of change are also times of opportunity. If you are inclined to be part of this creative movement that serves fellow Singaporeans, please join us and work with us as content creators and collaborators.

As Singapore turns 50 and with the impending General Election round the corner, we shall strive to capture the spirit of these two great events and share them with our community.

A heartfelt Thank You to our community, our readers and supporters!

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