Singapore orders Facebook to comply with fake news law and ‘correct’ dissident’s post

The Lion City demands social media giant correct a post by Australia-based blogger Alex Tan Zhi Xiang on his ‘States Times Review’ page

The development potentially sets up a showdown between the Singapore government and Facebook

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The Facebook page of the State Times Review.

Bhavan Jaipragasin Hong KongandDewey Simin Beijing

Published: 12:44pm, 29 Nov 2019Updated: 7:24pm, 29 Nov 2019

The Singapore government on Friday invoked one of the most controversial parts of its new ‘fake news’ law to order Facebook to correct a post by an Australia-based dissident, after the blogger refused its demands to comply with what he described as an “unjust law”.

The office in charge of administering the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation (POFMA) Act said the home and law minister K. Shanmugam had instructed it to issue a “targeted correction direction” to Facebook.

The order requires Facebook to publish a correction notice on a November 23 post by the ‘States Times Review’ page run by the blogger Alex Tan Zhi Xiang.

If the social media giant fails to comply, it is liable for a fine not exceeding S$1 million (US$731,905), and a further S$100,000 for each additional day of non-compliance after conviction.

This Week in Asia understands that Facebook is reviewing the order.

Singaporean lawyer Chooi Jing Yen, a partner at the law firm Eugene Thuraisingham LLP, said non-compliance would “obviously be a breach of POFMA” unless the technology company could provide a “reasonable excuse” as set out in the law.