Singapore directs Facebook to correct post under new fake news law

Singapore government has directed Facebook to issue a correction on a post under its fake news law after a blogger declined to correct the post. Singapore had ordered Alex Tan, editor of a news website States Times Review, to correct the post where he had claimed that a whistleblower was arrested after he “exposed” People’s Action Party (PAP) candidate’s Christian affiliations. Tan said that he is an Australian citizen and won’t comply with Singapore’s request.

Allegations on PAP candidate

Earlier, in a Facebook post, the National University of Singapore (NUS) students had warned about PAP candidate Rachel Ong Sin Yen saying she is the founder and chief executive of ROHEI corporation, a Christian evangelist organisation. According to Alex Tan, the PAP candidate founded the Christian evangelist organisation that goes on overseas “missions” to convert poor and needy people to Christians. Tan also alleged that the Facebook post of NUS Students United has since been taken down and the owner of the page is now under police investigation after Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam ordered the arrest.

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Tan accused Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of taking control of the Election department and that “PAP candidates easily get voted in under the corrupted system.” Tan, in his blog, said that Singapore is a multi-culture society with a majority Chinese population in the Malay peninsular and people live harmoniously together despite their religious and racial differences. “But there are always a few religious extremists in the ruling party dictatorship trying to remove the secular status of the country,” he wrote.

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'False and baseless'

The Ministry of Home Affairs, in a statement, denied the claims made by the States Times Review calling it false and baseless and instructed to issue correction under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA). “No one has been arrested or charged arising from the NSU post. The Government did not request that Facebook take down the NSU post or disable the page,” said MHA in a statement. “As reported by the Singapore media on 23 November 2019, Facebook did so as the NSU page violated authenticity policies, and the fake accounts linked to the page failed Facebook's community and authenticity guidelines,” it added.

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