Under The Angsana Tree: States Times Review to shut down

Update 22 Nov 2018: The Online Citizen website under police investigation for criminal defamation

Socio-political website The Online Citizen (TOC) is being investigated by the police for criminal defamation, after it published an article alleging that government officers are corrupt and the country’s Constitution has been doctored.

The article, published two weeks ago and titled The Take Away from Seah Kian Peng’s Facebook Post, “made serious allegations that the Government’s highest officers are corrupt and that the Constitution has been tampered with”, the police said.

In response to TODAY’s queries, the police confirmed that a report has been made against TOC and the article’s writer Willy Sum.

read more

TOC equipment seized, investigated by police for criminal defamation

The police seized electronic equipment from the home of The Online Citizen (TOC) editor Terry Xu yesterday as part of an investigation into the socio-political website for criminal defamation.

TOC later said on its Facebook page that it will be on hiatus as "all electronic equipment used for the purpose of the website have been seized".

They include a desktop computer, laptops & mobile devices.

read more

Singapore probes website for possible 'criminal defamation'

A Singapore political website has suspended publication after police said Tuesday it is being investigated for possible "criminal defamation" over an article alleging corruption among the city-state's top leaders.

The Online Citizen (TOC), which carries news articles and comments critical of the government, said in a Facebook post it will cease publication temporarily after police seized computers and other devices used for the portal.

TOC -- which describes itself as Singapore's longest running independent online media platform -- said the items were taken from the house of its editor Terry Xu.

read more

NTUC Foodfare to take legal action against The Independent Singapore for allegedly defamatory articles

Social enterprise co-operative NTUC Foodfare said on Wed (Nov 21) that it will take legal action against socio-political website The Independent Singapore (TISG) for publishing allegedly defamatory articles.

On Tuesday, lawyers representing NTUC Foodfare sent a letter to TISG demanding an apology and the removal of 2 articles and Facebook posts by 3pm on Wednesday.

The articles, which are still online, claim that an elderly hawker had passed away after working 18-hour days and another stallholder was fined S$3,500 for not operating his stall for a few days because he was "injured".

read more

The Independent faces legal action after refusing to remove NTUC Foodfare articles

Sociopolitical website The Independent has refused demands from NTUC Foodfare to remove 2 articles and 2 Facebook posts, which includes claims that a hawker died from "overwork", & now faces the prospect of being sued for defamation.

Lawyers for NTUC Foodfare, a social enterprise, had sent a letter on Tuesday (Nov 20) to The Independent owner Protegesoft, to remove the articles by 3pm the next day & publish an apology, or else face legal action.

The Independent failed to do so by the deadline, and instead posted on its website NTUC Foodfare's demand letter and a note by the site's publisher Kumaran Pillai saying it needed more time to "investigate the contentions raised". It also said that it had relevant facts to justify its articles.

read more

NTUC Foodfare to take legal action against The Independent Singapore

Social enterprise cooperative NTUC Foodfare said on Wednesday (21 November) that it will take legal action against socio-political website The Independent Singapore (TISG).

This comes after the website refused to comply with its demands to remove two articles and two Facebook posts sharing those articles, all of which are allegedly defamatory.

The first article, published on Monday, was titled “Elderly hawker allegedly passed away after working 18-hour days to avoid hefty fine when NTUC Foodfare rejected appeal to shorten operating hours”. The second article, also published on the same day, was titled “NTUC Foodfare slaps $3,500 fine on elderly and injured tenant who was unable to operate for a few days”.

read more

Facebook refuses Singapore request to remove post after critical website blocked

STR articles on its Facebook page remained available

Facebook has rejected a Singapore government request to remove a post of an online article that the government said was "false and malicious", prompting its Law Ministry to say the case illustrated the need to introduce legislation to stop fake news.

Singapore's central bank said on Friday it had filed a police report against an online article by an Australia-based independent blogger about Singapore banks and Malaysia's scandal-linked 1MDB state fund.

Web access in Singapore to the website of the States Times Review (STR) has been blocked by internet service providers as directed by Singapore's telecom and media regulator IMDA, which said it had determined the website carried prohibited content.

read more

‘We do not have a policy that prohibits alleged falsehoods’: Facebook on why it did not take down States Times Review post

Social media giant Facebook on Tuesday (Nov 13) explained why it did not accede to Singapore authorities’ request to take down a States Times Review post linking Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong with 1MDB investigations.

“We have a responsibility to handle any government request to restrict alleged misinformation carefully and thoughtfully, consistent with our approach to government requests around the world. We do not have a policy that prohibits alleged falsehoods, apart from in situations where this content has the potential to contribute to imminent violence or physical harm,” a Facebook spokesman said in response to queries from Channel NewsAsia.

The Facebook post shared an article alleging that Malaysia had signed several unfair agreements with Singapore in exchange for Singapore banks’ assistance in laundering 1MDB funds.

read more

No policy “that prohibits alleged falsehoods”: Facebook on refusal to remove States Times Review post

Following its refusal to take down a post by States Times Review (STR) which contained allegations of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong involvement in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), social media giant Facebook has revealed the reason behind its course of action.

Responding to queries from Channel NewsAsia, a spokesperson for Facebook said: "We have a responsibility to handle any government request to restrict alleged misinformation carefully and thoughtfully, consistent with our approach to government requests around the world. The spokesperson added: "We do not have a policy that prohibits alleged falsehoods, apart from in situations where this content has the potential to contribute to imminent violence or physical harm." Vice president of product policy at Facebook Monika Bicker told reporters at a roundtable on Tuesday (13 Nov) that “We don’t have a policy of removing false content. We will generally try to counter the virality and surface educational content.

"There are those two exceptions, where it’s very tied to voter suppression or the imminent threat of physical violence in the offline world." She elaborated: "Other than that, I will say that we do have a process through which governments can submit (something) to us if they think that something violates their laws and we have dialogues with governments back and forth on that. "We have a legal team that analyses those requests and then we publish the results of those requests and whether we have removed content - we publish that in a report that we put out every six months," she concluded.

read more

Facebook: We delete falsehoods, not alleged falsehoods

In a response to state media Straits Times over their decision to decline Singapore’s request to ban States Times Review, a Facebook spokesperson clarified that the social media company deletes only proven falsehoods, not alleged falsehoods:

“We have a responsibility to handle any government request to restrict alleged misinformation carefully and thoughtfully, and that this is consistent with its approach to government requests elsewhere. Facebook does not have a policy that prohibits alleged falsehoods, apart from in situations where this content has the potential to contribute to imminent violence or physical harm.”

Singapore’s independent news blog States Times Review was threatened by the Singapore government after it publishes an article pointing out the “secret deals” between Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and former Malaysian PM Najib Razak.

read more

Here’s Why We Refused To Take Down A Post Linking PM Lee To 1MDB Corruption

Ms Monika Bickert, vice-president of Facebook’s product policy division, said that under its existing policy, Facebook will remove inaccurate information circulating on its platform only if it leads to voter suppression or poses a threat of imminent violence. She gave her feedback while attending the first-ever forum in Asia-Pacific on Facebook’s community standards in Singapore

What this means is there are basically three main categories of content that could possibly violate Facebook standards – hate speech, adult nudity, and dangerous individuals and organisations (terrorism propaganda). Obviously the article published by States Times Review cannot be considered as a violation of adult nudity or terrorism propaganda.

That would leave the article to hate speech. Even then, Facebook’s hate speech is defined as a direct attack on people based on nine protected characteristics, which include national origin, sexual orientation and caste. Therefore, Facebook could not entertain Singapore’s request to bring down the post criticizing – even accusing – PM Lee of corruption.

At the media session, Ms Bickert also reiterated that Facebook does not have a wholesale policy of removing false content because it would be extremely hard to police whether a specific piece of information is true or false. Furthermore, a private company such as Facebook is in no position to determine whether the content is true or otherwise.

read more

States Times Review blocked by IMDA after refusing to take down “misleading” and “erroneous” article

For some trying to access States Times Review from their devices, they are now greeted with a blank screen that states, "The website that you are trying to access is unavailable as it contains prohibited material."

The social-political site which is based in Australia had earlier been ordered to take down an article entitled, "Lee Hsien Loong becomes 1MDB’s key investigation target", which was published on Monday (5 Nov). The article claimed that editor-in-chief of investigative journalism platform Sarawak Report (SR) Ms Clare Rewcastle had mentioned Singapore as "one of the key investigation targets, alongside Switzerland and United States" in the 1MDB scandal during an interview with Malaysian media.

SR rebutted the claim via Facebook on Thursday (8 Nov), calling it "misleading" and "erroneous," and made a request for STR to "correct the false claim."

read more

Govt agencies initiate action over article linking PM Lee to 1MDB

The allegations made in an online article against Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong & the Government in relation to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal are "absurd", Law & Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam has said.

And the police will investigate and take action against all involved, he said yesterday.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) filed a police report against the author of a Nov 5 States Times Review (STR) article, which alleged Malaysia had signed several unfair agreements with Singapore in exchange for Singapore banks' assistance in laundering 1MDB funds.

read more

MinLaw: Facebook’s refusal to take down post shows why legislation is needed to protect Singapore from Deliberate Online Falsehood

Ministry of Law has shared that Facebook declined to take down the controversial States Times Review (STR) article which it says is "clearly false, defamatory and attacks Singapore, using falsehoods."

MinLaw said in its press release on Friday, "This shows why we need legislation to protect us from deliberate online falsehoods."

The STR article,"Lee Hsien Loong becomes 1MDB’s key investigation target" which was published on 5 Nov, claimed that editor-in-chief of investigative journalism platform Sarawak Report (SR) Ms Clare Rewcastle had mentioned Singapore as "one of the key investigation targets, alongside Switzerland and United States" in the 1MDB scandal during an interview with Malaysian media.

read more

States Times Review post: Facebook cannot be relied upon to filter falsehoods, says Law Ministry

Facebook has declined to take down a post by the States Times Review linking Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong with the 1MDB investigations, said the Ministry of Law on Friday (Nov 9) night.

Their stance shows that the social media platform "cannot be relied upon to filter falsehoods or protect Singapore from a false information campaign", the ministry added.

"Facebook has declined to take down a post that is clearly false, defamatory & attacks Singapore, using falsehoods.

read more

States Times Review refuses to take down article linking PM Lee with 1MDB

Alternative news site States Times Review has refused to take down an article linking Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) corruption scandal.

"States Times Review will refuse to remove the alleged offending article," it said in a Facebook post at about 6pm on Fri (Nov 9).

In the post, it invited Mr Lee and Singapore government agencies to "file a case with the Australian authorities".

read more

States Times Review founder says will 'shut down' website

States Times Review founder Alex Tan said on Friday (Nov 9) that he intends to shut down the alternative news site.

According to Mr Tan, the States Times Review Facebook page will be shut down "2 weeks from now" while the website will remain until the end of the next General Elections.

"Do take note that this shutdown notice is of my own volition and not pressure from anyone or the dictatorship," he said in a Facebook post.

read more

Singapore Central Bank lodges police report on 'defamatory' 1MDB article

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has filed a report with the S'pore Police Force against the author of a Nov 5 article published in www.statestimesreview.com which it deems “false and malicious, and impugns the integrity of MAS as a financial regulator.”

The article, titled “Lee Hsien Loong becomes 1MDB’s key investigation target,” alleges that Malaysia signed several unfair agreements with Singapore in exchange for the republic’s banks’ assistance in laundering 1MDB funds.

“The article is baseless and defamatory,” MAS said in a statement here. “The article ignores the unprecedented and robust actions taken by MAS over the last two years against S'pore-based banks and bankers in relation to their roles in 1MDB-related transactions, in most instances, ahead of enforcement actions by foreign jurisdictions.

read more

Police to take action against all involved in fake news article: Shanmugam

Law & Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam said the article suggested Singapore was reluctant to investigate the 1MDB scandal - which was untrue. FOTO: ST FILE

The allegations made in an online article against Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and the Government in relation to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal are "absurd", Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam has said.

And the police will investigate and take action against all involved, he said on Friday (Nov 9).

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) filed a police report against the author of a Nov 5 States Times Review (STR) article, which alleged Malaysia had signed several unfair agreements with Singapore in exchange for Singapore banks' assistance in laundering 1MDB funds.

read more

M'sian media failed to do basic checks before publishing article that sought to damage confidence in S’pore, PM Lee: Shanmugam

TODAY file photo of Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam. Speaking to reporters on Fri (Nov 9), Mr Shanmugam said the allegations in an article on States Times Review were "absurd"

Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam on Fri (Nov 9) called out some Malaysian media outlets for their failure to conduct “basic checks” on an article that sought to damage Singapore’s and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s reputation.

While he did not name the media outlets involved, the Minister said that when allegations “appear in mainstream media, you would expect them to check the facts before publishing”. “Basic checks would have shown the allegations to be false,” he added.

On Wednesday, Malaysian online portal The Coverage published an article claiming that Mr Lee will be next to be investigated in the 1MDB probe in what Singapore dismissed as fake news & "clearly libellous".

read more

Singapore minister slams Malaysian media for failing to fact-check

SINGAPOREAN Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam today slammed some Malaysian media outlets for their failure to conduct “basic checks” on an article seeking to damage the reputation of the country and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, reported TODAY.

K. Shanmugam says an article published by the States Times Review website, alleging that the Singaporean prime minister is involved in the 1MDB scandal, is 'nasty and malicious'.

The minister, who did not name the organisations, said when allegations “appear in the mainstream media, you would expect them to check the facts before publishing”.

read more

Facebook refuses Singapore request to remove 'malicious' 1MDB post

Facebook did not respond to a request for comment

The IMDA asked Facebook to take down a post of the article but "Facebook has indicated that they will not accede to IMDA's request", it said in a separate statement on Saturday.

Singapore's Ministry of Law said "Facebook has declined to take down a post that is clearly false, defamatory and attacks Singapore, using falsehoods", which illustrated the need to introduce legislation fighting fake news.

"FB (Facebook) cannot be relied upon to filter falsehoods or protect Singapore from a false information campaign," it said in a statement.

read more

States Times Review to shut down Facebook page 'in 2 weeks' following 'libellous' 1MDB article

Controversial blog States Times Review (STR) is apparently shutting down its Facebook page in the next fortnight, following a sharp response from the Singapore government over what it termed a “libellous” STR article titled “Lee Hsien Loong becomes 1MDB’s key investigation target”.

In a Facebook post on Friday evening (9 November), STR founder and editor Alex Tan, who has been based in Sydney since 2015, added that the website will remain until the next General Election is over.

Tan said that the website had been “blocked under false charges of ‘fake news’ and ‘criminal defamation’ laid by the Singapore dictatorship”.

read more

States Times Review 11 hrs

The States Times Review website has been blocked under false charges of "fake news" and "criminal defamation" laid by the Singapore dictatorship.

As such, the website will cease and desist considering that it lost a channel to reach Singaporeans.

Thank you for your support over the past 3 years for STR, and for those who has been faithfully following my articles for the 3 years at TRS and 2 years at TR.

The sacrificial of my Singaporean passport is my last gift to my beloved Singapore and Singaporeans.

Hereon, I will also announce that I have decided to stop writing and continue my life in Australia.

This Facebook page will shut down in 2 weeks from now but the website will remain until the General Elections is over. Do take note that this shut down notice is of my own volition, and not pressure from anyone or the dictatorship. I have no intention to impugn my integrity bending forward for a scum government.

It has been an honour serving Singaporeans. Thank you.

Alex Tan
STR Editor

read more

The States Times Review is reborn as the Singapore Herald

Alex Tan may be bloody, but he is unbowed. After announcing on November 9 that the website would cease publication since it had been “blocked under false charges of ‘fake news’ and ‘criminal defamation’” by the government, the controversial States Times Review (STR) editor said that he would not write anymore, and would just live his life peacefully in Australia.

The website had been blocked due to a controversial story that Tan ran linking Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to the 1MDB scandal. However, the STR website was back online by November 12, and as of the writing of this article, is still up and accessible. Concerning the allegations, Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam had said, “When you make allegations of corruption, money laundering against the Prime Minister, Government of Singapore that we are complicit in this and so on, we’ll take this very seriously.”

Tan’s retreat lasted less than three days, because on November 12, Tan wrote what he entitled an ‘Epilogue.’ Here’s the content in a nutshell—STR’s mission will continue, but this time under a new, anonymous spearhead, a dual Singaporean-Canadian citizen, for whom Tan set up a new news site, the Singapore Herald (https://www.singapore-herald.com/).