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Monday's statement came nearly a month after
Swedish black metal group Watain's concert was banned in
Singapore on concerns about its history of "denigrating
religions and promoting violence".
Singapore keeps a tight rein on public speech and the media,
especially when it comes to race and religion.
A photo of the ministerial statement on "restricting hate
speech" was posted on Facebook by opposition MP Chen Show Mao on
Monday with the caption "lesson of the day". The post had been
shared more than 1,000 times and received hundreds of comments
by Tuesday afternoon.
The list cited Lady's Gaga's 'Judas' and Ariana Grande's 'God is
a woman', alongside songs 'Heresy' by Nine Inch Nails and 'Take
me to the Church' by Hozier.
Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande have both held concerts in
Singapore.
K. Shanmugam, Singapore's home affairs minister, said in a
Facebook post on Tuesday that he gave the list as an
illustration of things people may find offensive.
"Doesn't mean that it can all get banned, just because some
people find it offensive," Shanmugam, who is also the law
minister, posted.
In his speech on Monday, the minister had said the government's
approach had to be guided by common sense. He added either
banning everything that is deemed insulting or offensive by
anyone, or allowing everything that is insulting or offensive,
was not doable.
The statement came on a day Singapore submitted wide-ranging
fake news legislation in parliament, stoking fears among
internet firms and human rights groups that it may give the
government too much power and hinder freedom of speech.
(The story was refiled to fix typo in the headline)
(Reporting by John Geddie; Additional reporting by Aradhana
Aravindan; Editing by Michael Perry and Nick Macfie)
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