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TOC Asia, editor Terry Xu get Pofma correction orders over allegations against police in 2021 incident

SINGAPORE — Alternative news website The Online Citizen Asia and its editor Terry Xu were issued correction directions under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma) on Sunday (May 7) for false allegations against the police.

In May 2021, The Online Citizen, a news website run by Mr Xu which is now defunct, had shared a user’s Instagram story which claimed that police had ill-treated the elderly woman who was not wearing a face mask.
In May 2021, The Online Citizen, a news website run by Mr Xu which is now defunct, had shared a user’s Instagram story which claimed that police had ill-treated the elderly woman who was not wearing a face mask.
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  • Alternative news website The Online Citizen Asia and its editor Terry Xu were issued correction directions under Pofma on Sunday (May 7) night
  • The correction directions were in relation to false allegations against the police regarding an incident two years ago involving an elderly lady who was not wearing a mask
  • This is the second time the authorities have issued a correction direction under Pofma to posts published by Mr Xu in relation to the incident
  • The Ministry of Home Affairs said that despite the Government’s clarifications and High Court’s “clear findings” on the matter, Mr Xu and The Online Citizen Asia persisted in making false allegations"

SINGAPORE — Alternative news website The Online Citizen Asia and its editor Terry Xu were issued correction directions under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma) on Sunday (May 7) for false allegations against the police.

This relates to an incident two years ago involving an elderly lady who was not wearing a mask.

This is the second time the authorities have issued a correction direction under Pofma to posts published by Mr Xu in regard to the incident.

In a statement on Sunday night, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that it was issuing correction directions as despite the Government’s clarifications and the High Court’s “clear findings” on the matter, Mr Xu and The Online Citizen Asia “have persisted in making false allegations pertaining to the case”.

The correction directions were for a Facebook post Mr Xu made on April 30 this year, as well as an article published on The Online Citizen Asia on May 2.

The ministry also issued a correction direction to The Online Citizen Asia’s social media posts on May 2 which referenced the article.

The article made reference to an incident in May 2021 where the police attended to an elderly woman and tried to help her find her way home.

In May 2021, The Online Citizen, a news website run by Mr Xu which is now defunct, had shared a user’s Instagram story which claimed that police had ill-treated the elderly woman who was not wearing a face mask, republishing the social media post on May 18, 2021 on its social media platforms.

The police issued two clarification statements regarding this incident on May 19 and 25 that year.

The police said the allegations of bullying were not true, and that officers attended to the woman in Yishun to help her find her way home and not to reprimand her for not wearing a mask.

The 85-year-old woman, who was believed to have dementia, appeared lost when she was seen without a mask. Officers gave her food and she was eventually handed over to her domestic worker, said the police at the time.

The Online Citizen was also issued a correction direction under Pofma on May 21, 2021 for publishing falsehoods. The High Court dismissed The Online Citizen’s appeal to set aside the correction direction on July 25 last year.

The High Court had found that the alternative news site had published a false statement as a fact and that the police officer had expressed concern for the elderly lady with the aim of helping her.

The court observed that the original publisher of the article could not, in good faith, have concluded that there was reprimanding or taunting by the police.

WHAT THE ONLINE CITIZEN ASIA'S POSTS CLAIMED

The article published on The Online Citizen Asia on May 2 is an opinion piece by Mr Xu which claims that the police misrepresented facts of the incident involving the elderly lady and withheld evidence.

In the article, Mr Xu pointed out that the police had redacted parts of the bodycam footage submitted to the courts as it did not involve the interaction with the elderly lady, and claimed that the removed parts of the footage could have shed light on why the officers approached the lady in the first place.

Mr Xu made similar claims in his Facebook post on April 30 and alleged that the police did not assist the elderly lady, but approached her as she was not wearing a face mask.

WHAT THE AUTHORITIES SAY

In its statement on Sunday, MHA said: “These allegations are wholly unfounded. They may affect public trust and confidence in the Singapore Police Force.

“Xu’s attempts to rehash issues already considered by the Court, and exploit a case involving an elderly and vulnerable woman, are contemptible.”

The ministry added that it bears noting that the article is one of 60 written by Mr Xu to raise funds to pay for fines imposed upon him by the courts for various offences, including contempt of court and Pofma offences.

It added that the Government takes a serious view of the deliberate communication of malicious falsehoods.

The Online Citizen Asia and Mr Xu are required to carry a correction notice alongside their publications.

When TODAY checked at 10.30pm, there were no correction notices issued alongside the article or posts.

In a separate statement on Sunday, the police said that Mr Xu’s allegations are “wholly unfounded”.

Responding to Mr Xu’s claims that the police knew that the elderly woman was not lost but wanted to send her home nevertheless, the police said this was untrue and that they believed that the woman was lost and they were there to help her.

A call for assistance was made by a member of the public at the time of the incident saying that an elderly woman, who was not wearing a mask, looked lost.

When police officers located the elderly woman, she repeatedly said she knew where she stayed, but was unable to provide her address, said the police.

"Her address was only later established with the help of a member of the public, who recognised the elderly woman and recalled that she lived in a nearby block.

"The High Court has in fact found that the police officers believed that the elderly woman was lost,” said the police in their statement.

The police also said Mr Xu’s claim that the main reason the police approached the woman was because she was not wearing a mask was untrue.

The police reiterated in their statement that their primary concern was to help the elderly lady find her way home, and they attempted to contact her next-of-kin so that they could escort her home safely.

They also advised the lady to wear a face mask for her own safety due to Covid-19 regulations that required donning face masks in public at the time, said the police.

“The fact that they had asked her to put on a mask does not detract from the fact that they were trying to get her home safely,” said the police.

The police also called Mr Xu’s allegations that the police misrepresented and lied to the elderly woman’s next-of-kin that the lady was lost, resulting in the next-of-kin filing a police report on the issue as “a blatant fabrication”.

Rather, the next-of-kin had lodged a police report against The Online Citizen for spreading falsehoods about the officers’ interactions with the elderly lady and for interviewing the lady without the family’s permission, said the police.

“Police resources are better used to deter and solve crimes, and to assist members of the public, especially vulnerable members like the elderly woman, rather than to address such baseless allegations over and over again,” added the police in their statement.

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