authorities-sanctioned ‘Vogue’ magazine accused of promoting ‘non-traditional’ families

Articles on LGBT+ topics, reports on “body positivity” with photos of semi-nude women, interviews with Singaporean activists… The Singaporean authorities announced that they had sanctioned, on Friday October 14, the local edition of the fashion magazine vogue. The publication is accused of having infringed “local lifestyle magazine content guidelines” by posting nude images and content “promoting non-traditional families”according to the ministry, which did not specify what content was in question.

In a statement, Singapore’s Ministry of Communication and Information said it issued a stern warning to the magazine vogue and “revoked” his one-year publishing license. vogue then applied for a new permit, which was granted for only six months, according to the ministry.

Conde Nast Group launched the Singaporean edition of vogue two years ago, with the aim of producing “thought-provoking content to drive change for the good.”

In Singapore, where magazine publication is subject to licensing, strict rules limit content mentioning LGBT+ topics in the press. Magazines are thus prohibited from promoting “alternative lifestyles”defined as deviating from the concept of “traditional family”. The regulations also prohibit the posting of nude images, including “representations of semi-nude models whose breasts and/or genitals are covered by hands, materials or objects”.

This is the first time that the authorities have reduced the duration of one of these permits since 2014, when a local arts magazine was sanctioned for “religiously insensitive or denigrating content”.

Singapore’s government announced plans in August to decriminalize same-sex relationships, but Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also said the city-state would change its constitution to “safeguard the institution of marriage”defined as the union of a man and a woman.