SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Strait-laced Singapore has slashed the number of publications it bans to 17 from a previous 257, allowing some communist and adult topics, but kept a prohibition on Jehovah's Witnesses publications.
Adult magazines such as Playboy, Penthouse and Hustler remain banned, as are publications by the Jehovah's Witnesses Church produced by its Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society and the International Bible Students Association.
The church's publications sit in the banned list alongside "hardcore pornographic publications" that "depict female models in sexually suggestive poses and their genitals", the government agency said.
Singapore deregistered the Jehovah’s Witnesses and banned its publications in 1972 because the church objects to serving National Service in the military or singing national anthems.