Singapore (UPDATED)- The Media Development Authority (MDA) of Singapore has banned the Ashley Madison website, which promotes extramarital affairs.
- The government said it found the site’s content objectionable.
It released a media statement, in which a spokesman said that while the government adopts a pragmatic and light-touch policy to regulating content on the Internet. the MDA blocks “a limited number of sites as a symbolic statement of the types of content which the community is opposed to”, according to reports.
It said, “The Ashley Madison website, however, stands out. It aggressively promotes and facilitates extramarital affairs and has declared that it will specifically target Singaporeans”.
“It is against the public interest to allow Ashley Madison to promote its website in flagrant disregard of our family values and public morality. We will therefore not allow Ashley Madison to operate in Singapore and have worked with the Internet Service Providers to block access to the site.”
The popular Canada-based Ashley Madison website has over 21 million users worldwide. An online dating service and social networking service marketed to people who are married or in a committed relationship. Its slogan is “Life is short. Have an affair.” The website was launched in 2001.The name of the site was created from two popular female names, “Ashley” and “Madison”.
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37 Million People Use Ashley Madison, The Website for #Infidelity http://t.co/SW1nZDG6SL MT @MonaChalabi pic.twitter.com/oJLrN88vJw
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According to third-party web analytics provider SimilarWeb, the site has more than 124 million visits per month, as of 2015, and is ranked No. 18 among Adult sites.
On Ashley Madison website wiki page, The company received significant attention on July 15, 2015, after hackers stole all of its customer data—including names, addresses, sexual fantasies and credit card information—and threatened to post all the data online if Ashley Madison and fellow site Avid Life Media site EstablishedMen.com were not permanently closed. By July 22, the first names of customers were released by hackers.
Its slogan is “Life is short. Have an affair.” Ashley Madison has expanded to other Asian countries and territories including Japan and Hong Kong.
In December 2009, Ashley Madison attempted to purchase C$200,000 worth of advertising on Toronto Transit Commission streetcars.The plan was rejected after five of the six committee members voted against it.
If approved, 10 streetcars would have been skinned with Ashley Madison’s slogan: “Life is short. Have an affair.” The TTC commissioner showed displeasure with the ads, stating: “When it’s a core fundamental value around cheating or lying, we’re not going to let those kinds of ads go on.”
After the deal was rejected, Biderman offered to subsidize ticket prices by 25 cents if the deal went through. This would have reduced the ticket rate to C$2.50. The offer was declined.
