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Select Committee proposes wide-ranging measures to counter online falsehoods, including new laws and criminal sanctions

SINGAPORE — After more than eight months of work, the committee set up by the Government to study the issue of online falsehoods has recommended a slew of measures to counter what it deems a “live and serious threat” of weaponisation of fake news.

The 10-member Select Committee on Deliberate Online Falsehoods has put up 22 recommendations to deal with the threat of online falsehoods. The proposals cut across a wide range of areas under the purview of various government agencies.

The 10-member Select Committee on Deliberate Online Falsehoods has put up 22 recommendations to deal with the threat of online falsehoods. The proposals cut across a wide range of areas under the purview of various government agencies.

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SINGAPORE — After more than eight months of work, the committee set up by the Government to study the issue of online falsehoods recommended a slew of measures on Thursday (Sept 20) to counter what it deems a “live and serious threat” of the weaponisation of fake news.

These include new laws and criminal sanctions to go after “hired guns” by crippling their revenue sources, and regimes that hold technology companies accountable, as well as coming up with a “national-level strategy and coordinated approach” to deal with state-sponsored disinformation operations. In all, the 10-member Select Committee on Deliberate Online Falsehoods has put up 22 recommendations which cover a wide range of areas under the purview of various government agencies.

The committee also proposed to strengthen public education, raise the quality of journalism both in mainstream and alternative media, reinforce social cohesion and trust as well as promote fact-checking as countermeasures to curb the scourge.

Infographic: Raymond Limantara/TODAY

Accepting the recommendations in principle, the Government said that it will study the report closely and work with stakeholders to roll out the proposed non-legislative and legislative measures "over the next few months". "The Government acknowledges the findings of the committee on the serious challenges and real risks posed by deliberate online falsehoods to the international community," the Ministry of Law and the Ministry of Communications and Information said in a joint statement. 

The committee was chaired by Deputy Speaker of Parliament Charles Chong with members including Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam, Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information Janil Puthucheary, Senior Minister of State for Law Edwin Tong and opposition party leader Pritam Singh.

Its report took into account 170 written representations, as well as oral evidence from 65 individuals and organisations given over 50 hours during eight days of public hearings held earlier this year.

With the submission of the 273-page report to the Government, the work of the committee is done. However, much work lies ahead for the authorities to look into the recommendations and implement them, including crafting new laws that legal experts have noted will be tricky, given the nature of the beast.

Among other proposals, the committee called for new laws to safeguard the integrity of Singapore’s elections, and prevent companies from advertising on platforms deemed to be spreading online falsehoods.

There should also be legislation that enables the Government to “swiftly disrupt the spread and influence” of false information and impose criminal sanctions on those who spread them, it added.

In its report, the committee stressed the need to effectively deal with threats to national security and sovereignty.

Perpetrators “may be motivated by politics, prejudice or ideology”, it noted. “Individuals both local and foreign, may also be motivated by profit, mischief or social connection," it added.

Their objectives might sometimes align with each other, despite differences in their underlying motivations. “When they do so, the threat they pose is greater,” the committee warned.

‘LAWS REQUIRED, BUT WITH SAFEGUARDS'

Around the world, countries are grappling with the rise of online falsehoods. Some governments, including Germany's, have put in place new laws to tackle the problem, on top of other measures.

In France, a report released earlier this month by French institutes affiliated to its government have suggested enacting new laws or amending existing ones to counter fake news. Among other things, the French report noted that Singaporean authorities are very aware of the vulnerability of their population. Singapore's diversity always has the potential to generate tensions, and the fact that they are anglophone makes them easily penetrable, it added. 

The Select Committee in Singapore noted in its report that legislation “cannot be a silver bullet by itself”.

“However, effectively disrupting the spread and influence of online falsehoods requires legislation,” it stressed.

Legislative measures should “adhere to certain criteria, such as being calibrated in their effect and deployment, taking into account the context and circumstances”, the committee said. They ought to be accompanied by checks and balances, too.

At the same time, the Government and Parliament should consider the adequacy of existing criminal sanctions, the committee said. 

It also pointed out that measures undertaken by social media giants such as Facebook and Twitter to curb the spread of fake news are “inadequate”.

These companies have a policy of not removing content on the basis that it is false, the committee noted. Moreover, they “have not always responded seriously or adequately to the harm that their platforms have contributed to”. 

Facebook, for instance, knew that British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica was illegally accessing the private information of millions of people in 2015. But the technology giant did not disclose the data breach.

The company has also come under fire for being used to spread misinformation by the Russians to influence the United States’ presidential election in 2016.

Though measures such as beefing up public education are important, they are insufficient to deal with the speed and reach of online falsehoods perpetuated on social media platforms, the committee said.

There should be laws that give the Government take-down powers and access-blocking to prevent falsehoods from going viral or to block its exposure in a matter of hours, the committee added. However, there should be safeguards to ensure “due process and the proper exercise of power”.

HITTING WHERE IT HURTS: REVENUE STREAMS 

Cutting off the revenue stream of perpetrators should also be considered via a de-monetisation regime, the committee said. There should be laws preventing companies from advertising on sites that spread fake news, and requiring owners of such sites to pay back the ill-gotten money received from such nefarious activities. “This should cover the ‘hired guns’ who are paid by others to create and spread online falsehoods,” the committee said.

To increase transparency and accountability, technology companies should also be subject to legislation or other forms of regulation that require them to prioritise credible content and limit circulation of online falsehoods. Their advertising services should also not be used to amplify online falsehoods, such as through the “boosting” of posts.

Technology firms should undertake “regular voluntary reporting and independent audits” to inform the Government and the public of the scale and nature of online falsehoods on their platforms, as well as the measures taken and their effectiveness in addressing the problem, the committee said.

In the public debate on the issue, some critics expressed concerns about the impact of legislation on free speech, and the lack of a definition of what constitutes falsehoods.

The committee did not dwell on the definition of falsehoods — as there are established methods in the court of law to rely on — but it reiterated that online falsehoods “harm democracy and the genuine contestation of ideas in the ‘marketplace’”.

It added: “Measures to combat online falsehoods do not necessarily lie in opposition to freedom of speech. In fact, both serve the same ideals.”

Separately, the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth has responded to the committee’s call on the need to strengthen public trust. It said in a statement that fostering trust requires commitment from all parties.

There are already various efforts that promote open communication, such as the Government feedback unit Reach.

“However, we acknowledge that there is always room for improvement and we will strive to do so, as a collective effort with Singaporeans,” the ministry said.

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