 Under the Internal Security Act , the Minister for Communications and Information is empowered to prohibit the printing , publication , sale , issue , circulation or possession of any document or publication on the ground , among others , that it is prejudicial to the national interest , public order or security of Singapore . Doing any of the above acts in relation to a banned publication is a criminal offence . Among the publications that have been interdicted under this Act are works by Vladimir Lenin and Mao Zedong , and the Russian political newspaper Pravda . A similar power to prohibit the importation , sale or circulation of publications that are considered to be contrary to the public interest exists under the Undesirable Publications Act . 
