Singapore’s parliament on Monday tackled the escalation of fake news by introducing legislation that would restrict individuals from communicating a “false statement of fact” that would harm Singapore’s “public interest.”

The Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Bill aims to prevent the communication of false statements and to enable measures to detect, control and safeguard against “inauthentic behavior.” The law could force websites to run correction notices among content the government deems false, and the government will also be able to issue “take down” orders that require the removal of content posted by social media companies.

In determining what is a “false statement of fact,” the government has full authority in deciding when to bring an action against a “false” statement. However, websites will have the right to request a judicial review of the corrections or take-down orders, but only after those orders are issued.

Singapore Minister of Law, K. Shanmugam told reporters that the legislation only addresses false statements of facts and will not interfere with opinions. “It doesn’t deal with opinions. It doesn’t deal with viewpoints. You can have whatever viewpoints however reasonable or unreasonable.”

The bill was put before parliament on Monday and it could become law in the coming months.

jurist.org

BDST: 2001 HRS, APR 2, 2019
SI