Vogue Magazine in Singapore Penalized for Vulgar Content

Regulators in Singapore have revoked the license of Vogue magazine for promoting “non-traditional families,” reaffirming the state’s cultural limits on vulgarity and sexual content.

Vogue Singapore has violated content restrictions four times in the last two years by containing such content and nudity, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Communications and Information on Friday.

Vogue Magazine was handed a “severe warning.” Its one-year publishing license was cancelled and replaced by a six-month permit.

Vogue Magazine Singapore and Media Publishers Pte Ltd, the local publisher of the US fashion magazine, did not respond to calls for comment, StraitsTimes reports.

The Communications and Information ministry did not elaborate on the offences, but the action comes less than two months after the city-state revealed plans to overturn colonial-era legislation that criminalized sex between men, as well as change the constitution to prohibit same-sex weddings.

Vogue Magazine is not alone

According to a Communications and Information ministry official, the last time a permit was shortened was in 2014, when action was taken against Art Republik, a local art journal, for two serious violations of the criteria for religiously insensitive and derogatory content.

In August, the Communications and Information ministry stated that it would continue limiting LGBT media content to adult audiences, while the education ministry would continue teaching heterosexual marriage in schools.

The Southeast Asian country has generally frowned on promiscuous content, although loosening laws in some areas, such as legalizing bar-top dancing in 2003, to boost its appeal as a business and travel hub. It revoked the licenses of men’s magazine FHM in 1998 and women’s magazine Cleo in 2008 due to sex and nudity content.

Despite the rise of the internet and shifting attitudes among the young, Singapore has reinforced its harsh stance.

It penalized a creator on the pornographic site OnlyFans this week for distributing obscene photographs and videos, the first such conviction for a platform user.