Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

Facebook issues correction notice on States Times Review's post

SINGAPORE — Facebook has issued a correction notice for a States Times Review Facebook post in a first for the platform, after it was instructed to do so on Friday (Nov 29) by the office overseeing the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act.

The Government issued a correction direction under the fake news laws against the States Times Review (STR) Facebook page, requiring STR to carry a correction notice saying that its article contains falsehoods. STR failed to comply.

The Government issued a correction direction under the fake news laws against the States Times Review (STR) Facebook page, requiring STR to carry a correction notice saying that its article contains falsehoods. STR failed to comply.

Follow TODAY on WhatsApp

SINGAPORE — Facebook has issued a correction notice for a States Times Review Facebook post in a first for the platform, after it was instructed to do so on Friday (Nov 29) by the office overseeing the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act.

On Saturday, the notice could be seen at the bottom of the original post.

"Facebook is legally required to tell you that the Singapore government says this post has false information," the notice said.

A Facebook spokesperson told CNA that the company, as required by Singapore law, applied a label to these posts.

"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 spokesperson said.

Facebook's action comes after the States Times Review was ordered to correct the Facebook post but failed to comply.

This was the second correction direction handed out under Singapore’s online falsehoods law.

Facebook's notice can be seen at the bottom of the post.

The post alleged that a “whistleblower who exposed a People’s Action Party (PAP) candidate’s Christian affiliations” has been arrested and that the owner of the NUSSU – NUS Students United Facebook page, which published the claims about the PAP candidate, is under police investigation.

“These claims are false and baseless,” said the Ministry of Home Affairs on Thursday. “No one has been arrested or charged arising from the NSU post.”

The correction direction under the new law was issued to Mr Alex Tan Zhi Xiang, a 32-year-old Singaporean who runs the States Times Review website and Facebook page.

A post on the page on Thursday morning said that States Times Review and its editor "will not comply with any order from a foreign government". CNA

For more stories like this, visit cna.asia.

Related topics

fake news Pofma States Times Review Alex Tan Ministry of Home Affairs

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.