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Launched on 8 Might 2019, the Safety from On-line Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) was heralded by the Folks’s Motion Occasion (PAP) authorities as a vital software to curb the proliferation of pretend information and keep at bay international interference.
Below POFMA, any minister might problem the next orders to publishers of falsehoods, whether it is within the public curiosity to take action.
Nonetheless, through the years, POFMA’s utilization has been largely focused at native entities and people quite than international publications, resulting in questions relating to its implementation and supreme goal.
Since its inception, roughly 100 POFMA instructions have been issued by numerous ministers. (View the compilation done by myself)
Minister Okay Shanmugam stands out as essentially the most frequent issuer, with a report of 12 situations, a quantity that rises when contemplating directives linked to controversies such because the Minister’s Ridout Street rental problem.
Most recipients of those directives are activists, politicians, non-governmental organisations, and various media like The On-line Citizen (TOC). Notably, nearly all of directives issued through the 2020 basic election—almost 30—had been directed at Singapore-based various publications and political events.
Concurrently, there have been incidents the place Singaporean diplomats opted for rebuttal letters quite than POFMA instructions to counter what they thought-about misrepresentations by international media retailers.
Beneath is a non-exhaustive record of notable incidents the place the Singapore authorities selected to not problem a POFMA directive even when it was claimed {that a} ‘falsehood’ was being communicated.
- Nikkei Asian Overview, July 2020: Singapore’s Ambassador to Japan, Peter Tan Hai Chuan, rebutted an article titled “Coronavirus and Inequality Threaten to Unsettle Singapore Election.” He accused the author, Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh, of portray a distorted image of the state of affairs. Nonetheless, no POFMA directive was issued.
- Overseas Coverage, Might 2020: Ambassador to america, Ashok Kumar Mirpuri, wrote a letter to the editor-in-chief, Jonathan Tepperman, to refute an article by Singaporean Kirsten Han. The piece criticized Singapore’s dealing with of the migrant employee COVID-19 disaster as utilitarian and dehumanising. Mirpuri disagreed with Han’s view, however once more, no POFMA directive adopted.
- Jap Broadcasting Firm Information Programme, April 2020: A Taiwanese information programme broadcast by Jap Broadcasting Firm made claims that the annual wage of Ho Ching, CEO of Temasek Holdings, was “round S$100 million.”In response, Singapore’s Minister for Finance, Heng Swee Keat, quite than issuing a POFMA correction path in opposition to the Taiwanese information supply, opted to have the POFMA workplace issue four correction directions to 4 totally different Singaporean entities and a person who referenced the declare made by the information programme. Regardless of the worldwide supply of the declare, no POFMA directive was issued in opposition to Jap Broadcasting Firm.
- The Economist, December 2019 and July 2023: Excessive Commissioner to the UK, Foo Chi Hsia, directed a rebuttal to the publication over its protection of POFMA, insisting the Act doesn’t restrict free speech however enhances public discourse. The Excessive Commissioner to the UK, Mr Lim Thuan Kuan, additionally rebutted allegations by The Economist questioning the independence of Singapore’s anti-graft company, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB). Regardless of the sturdy counterarguments, no POFMA directives had been issued in each situations.
- Nikkei Asia, July 2021: Senior director from the Ministry of House Affairs (MHA), Sam Tee, called out inaccuracies in an opinion piece titled “The institutional failures behind Singapore’s newest COVID outbreak.” He famous that the writer’s feedback weren’t fact-based however imagined realities. Regardless of this declare, no POFMA directive was issued.
A case which didn’t contain a diplomat was the Non-public Banking Business Group (PBIG) denying claims made in a latest report by the Financial Times in April this 12 months that the Financial Authority of Singapore (MAS) had issued a “tacit directive” to banks instructing them to keep away from discussing the sources of wealth inflows into the nation. The Minister of Finance didn’t problem a POFMA directive in opposition to Monetary Occasions.
None of those international media and entity incidents led to issuing a POFMA directive, regardless of the intense allegations or misrepresentation, suggesting a reluctance to make use of the act in opposition to international publications.
As for people, MHA accused British billionaire Richard Branson of spreading alleged falsehoods about Singapore in November final 12 months. Branson instructed that sure developments ought to give Singaporeans “trigger for concern,” implying racial bias and claiming that latest executions focused small-scale drug traffickers.
MHA refuted these assertions, suggesting that Branson was influenced by native activists with private agendas. Regardless of the Ministry’s sturdy objection to Branson’s statements, no POFMA directive was issued in opposition to him.
On 18 Might 2021, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted a few new, allegedly extraordinarily harmful coronavirus variant in Singapore, claiming that it may lead to a 3rd wave of infections in India, with out offering any supporting proof.
As a substitute of issuing a POFMA directive to Kejriwal for his tweet, Singapore’s Minister for Well being opted to issue correction directions to Fb, Twitter, and SPH Magazines Pte Ltd (HardwareZone discussion board). Regardless of the misinformation originating from a world politician, no POFMA directive was issued in opposition to Kejriwal himself.
The explanations for not issuing POFMA directives by the Singapore ministers may very well be multifaceted. Maybe there’s a concern concerning the worldwide repercussions of implementing POFMA in opposition to prestigious media retailers, entities and people.
Blocking entry to those websites and celebrities may provoke international condemnation and danger scaring off international investments. Furthermore, the potential futility of implementing POFMA in opposition to entities outdoors Singapore’s jurisdiction can also clarify the federal government’s selection for diplomatic rebuttals as an alternative.
However, POFMA has been employed with out hesitation in opposition to native people and entities, elevating questions on its perceived major goal.
The few situations the place POFMA directives have been issued in opposition to international entities, similar to Lawyers for Liberty in Malaysia, and Asia Sentinel in California, have usually been perceived as low-risk eventualities.
The Singapore authorities may anticipate restricted repercussions from these situations, and even a possible failure to conform would possibly result in simply blocking the websites quite than a full-fledged diplomatic disaster.
Its selective utility in opposition to activists, politicians, NGOs, and various media has led to a rising notion that POFMA is much less about curbing faux information or international interference and extra about controlling native dissenting voices.
This selective enforcement of POFMA contradicts its proposed intent of stopping faux information and international interference, thereby elevating the legislation’s rules into query.
The state of affairs lends weight to criticisms suggesting that POFMA has change into a software for the PAP to suppress opposition and various voices quite than tackling disinformation.
This narrative finds echoes in a latest Fb publish by Lee Hsien Yang, the place he famous that the belief positioned within the PAP had been ‘shattered’—an announcement which, illustratively, was topic to a POFMA path.
The appliance of POFMA and its relationship with the federal government’s diplomatic technique presents a conundrum.
Is POFMA merely a handy software wielded to take care of home political management whereas avoiding worldwide confrontations? Or is it an emblem of damaged belief, as instructed by Lee Hsien Yang?
That is 10 of 60 articles written for the already accomplished S$30k fundraising of Terry Xu’s contempt of court docket fantastic and price. To see the complete record of the 60 articles, go to this page.
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