<![CDATA[Singapore defends fake news law, saying it's a 'coincidence' that politicians targeted]>
The Singapore government on Monday said it was a "coincidence" that the first few people to fall foul of its controversial anti-fake news law have political leanings.
The Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma), which came into force in October last year, has come under fire for being invoked primarily on opposition figures.
In the four instances it has been used, three involved the opposition and the fourth was related to a post by an Australia-based dissident.
Singapore's Minister for Communication and Information S Iswaran has defended the new anti-fake news law. Photo: EPA-EFE alt=Singapore's Minister for Communication and Information S Iswaran has defended the new anti-fake news law. Photo: EPA-EFE
"The first few Pofma actions appeared to have been issued against individuals who are either politicians or affiliated with political parties, or political parties. I would say that that is a convergence, some might say unfortunate convergence or coincidence," said Minister for Communication and Information S. Iswaran.
"If it so happens that some of the people involved are politically affiliated, that's just the consequence of their actions," he said, maintaining that this would not necessarily be the case moving forward.
Iswaran was responding to questions raised by members of parliament Anthea Ong and Walter Theseira, who asked the ministry about its position on perceptions of a "partisan political bias" over recent enforcements on the law, and if the identity of the entity responsible for the falsehood is taken into account when deciding whether there is a public interest to act against it.
Ministers can exercise the law if two criteria are met " if there is a bona fide falsehood, classified as a statement of fact that is false or misleading; and if the use of the law is in the "public interest".
In the four cases the law has been invoked, a "correction notice" was issued by ministries, which required entities or individuals to amend posts deemed to contain "false of misleading statements of fact".
Recipients of the Pofma notice then have to amend their original post to prominently include a short statement that it contained false information, with a link to a page on the government's Factually.sg portal that explained why the authorities thought the post was false.
The Singapore government ordered Facebook to correct a post by an Australian-based dissident blogger based on the country's new fake news law. Photo: Screengrab alt=The Singapore government ordered Facebook to correct a post by an Australian-based dissident blogger based on the country's new fake news law. Photo: Screengrab
Three of the four " Brad Bowyer of Progress Singapore Party, Lim Tean of People's Voice, and the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) " have complied with the Pofma order, even though the SDP submitted an application to cancel three correction directions. On Monday, Manpower Minister Josephine Teo rejected the SDP's application.
Alex Tan Zhi Xiang, the Australian-based blogger and administrator of States Times Review website, had his application to cancel his correction rejected by law minister K. Shanmugam on January 3. In Tan's case, the government took the additional step of ordering Facebook to add a special label to his post after he refused to comply with an initial correction notice.
Critics of the long-ruling People's Action Party have expressed concerns that the law could be used to stifle dissent ahead of an impending general election, which has to be called before April 2021.
But Iswaran on Monday argued that in the four cases the law has been invoked, ministers have provided the basis for their determination that a statement is false, and this "ensures transparency and accountability".
The government also has a duty to ensure that Singaporeans are not misled by falsehoods, he said, adding that the best way to maintain public trust in the government would be to "juxtapose the truth with the falsehood". This way, citizens can decide for themselves what the facts are.
Singapore's iconic promenade and skyline. The city state is expected to hold elections in the next year. Photo: AFP alt=Singapore's iconic promenade and skyline. The city state is expected to hold elections in the next year. Photo: AFP
"Failing to deal decisively with such falsehoods will erode, and even undermine, public trust in our institutions, with serious consequences for our democracy," said Iswaran.
Opposition leader Sylvia Lim of the Workers' Party also questioned the rationale for obligations placed on digital advertising and internet intermediaries under the Political Advertisements Code issued by the Pofma Office in October last year.
The code requires intermediaries, such as social media platforms, to ensure that online political ads carry disclosure notices to inform readers of the person or organisation behind the advertisement.
Responding to Lim, Iswaran said the code would enhance the transparency of online political advertising and would hold advertisers accountable.
It would also enable Singaporeans to make "informed decisions" on the information presented to them.
"We believe that Singaporeans should know, and indeed that our citizens would want to know who is behind the political advertisements that they see online," he said.
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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