Social media giant Facebook has issued notice to user’s post to correct it as per the Government of
Singapore’s direction. Facebook has urged for a measured approach to the implementation of a new
“fake news” law to protect freedom of speech.
“Facebook is legally required to tell you that the Singapore government says this post has false
information,” the notice, which could be seen by some users in Singapore, said. The correction notice
was embedded at the bottom of the original post without any alterations to the text, but it could not be
seen by other users inside and outside the country.
As required by Singapore law, Facebook applied a label to these posts, which were determined by the
Singapore Government to contain false information,” a spokesperson for Facebook said in an emailed
statement. “As it is early days of the law coming into effect, we hope the Singapore Government’s
assurances that it will not impact free expression will lead to a measured and transparent approach to
implementation.” The government said in a statement that it had issued an order requiring Facebook
"to publish a correction notice" on a Nov. 23 post which contained accusations about the arrest of a
supposed whistleblower and election rigging.
Singapore said the allegations were "false" and "scurrilous" and initially ordered user Alex Tan, who runs
the States Times Review Blog, to issue the correction notice on the post. Tan, who does not live in
Singapore and says he is an Australian citizen, refused and authorities said he is now under
investigation.
Facebook is facing lot of controversy in recent years for its lax approach to fake news reports, state-
backed disinformation campaigns and violent content spread on its services, prompting calls for new
regulations around the world. It is also frequently criticized for being too willing to do the bidding of
governments in stamping out political dissent.