[1] Prior to the merger, SBA, which was formed on 1 October 1994 under the purview of the previous Ministry of Information and the Arts (MITA), was set up to regulate the broadcasting industry in Singapore.

MDA’s function is to grow the media industry by stimulating job creation, seeding and attracting investments, while setting standards that lay the foundation for building a cohesive and inclusive society.

[5] One of MDA’s key initiatives is to develop industry roadmaps that position Singapore as the nucleus where media content, services and applications are financed, made and traded for the world.

Another key responsibility of MDA is to create and enforce regulatory policies that make Singapore an attractive place to encourage investment and innovation in the media sector, leading to more choices for consumers.

Their focus appears to be to design policy frameworks that facilitate industry growth, whilst enabling informed choices and protecting the young from undesirable content.

The play was originally written about the hanging of Shanmugam Murugesu and was to have been staged one day after the controversial execution of Australian national Nguyen Tuong Van.

[10] This move was heavily criticised by more than 20 activists and bloggers who pointed out that the scheme would impact citizens’ ability to "receive diverse news information".

"[13] In response, a group of 39 artists, including filmmakers Anthony Chen, Royston Tan and Kelvin Tong, released a joint statement expressing "deep disappointment" and urged the MDA to reverse the ban.

[16] In June 2016, the MDA objected to 31 photographs in Iranian photojournalist Newsha Tavakolian's I Know Why the Rebel Sings exhibition, as part of the Singapore International Festival of Arts pre-festival The O.P.E.N.

Festival director Ong Keng Sen issued a statement condemning MDA's explanation and pointing out that the photographs were already published in the readily accessible Time magazine, both online and off.