Complying with an order given by the Singaporean Government, Facebook has blocked access to the States Times Review (STR) page in the region. The page is run by an Australia-based Singaporean political activist, Alex Tan, who is known to be highly critical of the Government. This decision was made in pursuance to the controversial Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA), commonly known as Singapore’s 'Anti-Fake News' law.
Furthermore, the order disallows STR from receiving financial benefits from “these falsehoods at the expense of Singaporeans and [their] society”. The administration has also ordered STR’s page to put up a notice that warns viewers of the page’s history of communicating false information. Failure to comply with this can lead to a fine of up to $40,000 or jail time for three years for Alex Tan.
The notice came after Health Minister Gan Kim Yong ordered STR to upload a correction for the page’s post on the COVID-19 situation in Singapore. The post “falsely claimed that Singapore had run out of face masks” while many in Singapore scrambled to buy masks in response to the outbreak. Government officials claim that this is the third such occasion that the website has put up false content.
The Minister for Communications and Information, S. Iswaran, justified this in his statement where he said, “it is in circumstances like this that there also is a propensity for perpetuating falsehoods... the reason why we need to act swiftly is because if we don’t, then these falsehoods can cause anxiety, fear, and even panic”.
Facebook has said that it was “legally compelled” to comply with the order but believed the action to be “disproportionate” and in contradiction to the Government’s claim that “POFMA would not be used as a censorship tool”. Had Facebook refused to comply with the order, the company would be fined up to $14,378 a day under POFMA.
Facebook’s spokesperson said, “We’ve repeatedly highlighted this law’s potential for overreach and we’re deeply concerned about the precedent this sets for the stifling of freedom of expression in Singapore”.
This Act has been criticised within and outside Singapore for stifling freedom of speech. However, the Singaporean Government has stood firm on its importance in combating fake news that could incite racial and religious disharmony.
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