Under The Angsana Tree: Tis the season to be #POFMA-ed

Kirsten Han 韩俐颖 @kixes - 4 hr

’Tis the season to be #POFMA-ed. After @yourSDP was POFMAed yesterday, today we have the Minster of Education issuing a correction direction to opposition politician Lim Tean. #Singapore

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POFMA: 4 Strikes By 4 Different Ministers

The POFMA is now going into overdrive, as for the past three weeks or so, four Corrections Directions have been thrown down to dissenting voices against the government. What is more interesting is that all four Correction Orders were given by different Ministers from different Ministries. Is this an indictment of the very sad state of Singapore Politics, or a sign that Ministers are actually working hard, and have been given a new toy with which to fix the opposition?

Lim Tean became the fourth member of the POFMA issued band. So far, these are the members of that illustrious band, which many Singaporeans feel will grow by the day to include more opposition voices:

Brad Bowyer issued POFMA from Minister of Finance, Heng Swee Keat
States Times issued POFMA from Home Minister K Shanmugan
Singapore Democratic Party issued POFMA from Minister of Manpower Josephine Teo
Lim Tean issued POFMA from Minister of Education Ong Ye Kung

All four POFMA issued by different Ministers, is this what the government mean when they want to wish Singaporeans a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year? It does seem like the POFMA is now the shiny new toy for the Ministers themselves were given to fix the opposition. And for the PAP at least, it is turning out to be the best Xmas gift they can be given, ahead of the next, upcoming, General Election.

related: Govt Only Use POFMA To Say Fake News, Should They State Facts To Show The Real News?

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Corrections and clarifications regarding falsehoods and misleading statements in Mr Lim Tean’s FB posts of 12 December 2019

1. The Facebook posts by Mr Lim Tean contain false and misleading statements.

2. Mr Lim states that “the total pot available to Singaporean students [is] $167 million compared to the $238 million that is spent on foreign students”. He further states that “PAP spends $167 million on Grants & Bursaries for Singaporeans, but $238 million on foreign students??”. These statements imply that MOE spends less on Singaporean students than on foreign students.

3. This is false and misleading.

4. MOE’s annual budget is $13B, almost all of which is spent on Singapore citizens. The $167M cited by Mr Lim refers only to bursaries for Singaporean tertiary students, and grossly understates MOE’s total spending on Singaporean citizens for education.

5. The figures of $167M and $238M are therefore not comparable.

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Lim Tean Yesterday at 14:29

Don’t Compare Apples To Oranges!

That is why this “Cry Baby” legislation is so dangerous because it allows Ministers to insist on what is the “truth”, and their own version of what is “false”.

As President Obama put it succinctly in Singapore last weekend, whenever Government is the only body allowed to decide what is true or false, that is dangerous!

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Lim Tean 5 hrs

I Have Been Given A Notice Under The “Cry Baby” Legislation.

This morning at 9.05 am I received an email from the POFMA office alleging that I had made false and misleading statements in one of my FB posts published on 12 December at 4pm.

This is a pathetic demand by a government that is obviously nervous about public reaction to the established fact that it spends $238 million on grants and scholarships on foreign students compared to $167 million on grants and bursaries on local students every year. And I am being generous when I use the figure of $167 million because it was $44 million less until Lee Hsien Loong announced the $44 million increase in his National Day Rally speech in August this year.

And Singaporeans should have no illusion that this is a government that was spending close to $500 million on grants and scholarships for foreign students before that figure was halved to $238 million compared to $123 million on Singaporean students.

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Singapore's envoy to UK rebuts Economist article on Pofma

Singapore's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Foo Chi Hsia was responding to an article published on Dec 7, which characterised Pofma as an addition to the Singapore Government's "criticism-suppressing arsenal" and referenced two recent uses of the law. PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

An Economist article on Singapore's fake news law has drawn a rebuttal from Singapore's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Foo Chi Hsia.

In a letter published on the magazine's website this week, Ms Foo stated that the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma) does not limit free speech - rather it enhances the quality of public discourse.

She added that the law "strengthens and safeguards proper public accountability that must necessarily underpin democracies".

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S’pore High Commissioner to UK rebuts Economist article on fake news law

Singapore’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Foo Chi Hsia, has written a rebuttal letter to The Economist.

This time, it is over a Dec. 7 article by the 176-year-old venerable magazine about Singapore’s fake news laws. The Economist piece was titled, “Singapore strikes its first official blows against fake news“.

Foo’s main defence of the new fake news law was that it does not limit free speech, but enhances the quality of public discourse.

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SG High Commissioner to the UK defends Pofma after The Economist calls it part of the “government’s criticism-suppressing arsenal”

An article on The Economist criticizing Singapore’s fake news law and calling it part of the “government’s criticism-suppressing arsenal” has drawn a rebuttal from Singapore’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom that says the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma) “enhances rather than reduces the quality of public discourse”.

Published on Dec 7, the article on The Economist titled, ‘Singapore strikes its first official blows against fake news’ outlines the incident where Pofma was invoked on the blog the States Times Review. Referring to Pofma being invoked on opposition politician Brad Bowyer as well, the Economist article states that, “The hubbub over the two orders relates more to the display of pofma’s powers than to the details of the posts themselves”. The article also states: “Facebook has said that it hopes the law will not impinge on free expression. To say it already has would presumably attract a pofma order”.

In her response, Foo Chi Hsia, Singapore’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, explained: “Online posts that have been corrected remain available in full, but with links to the government’s response appended. Readers can see both and decide for themselves which is the truth. How does twinning factual replies to falsehoods limit free speech?”

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UK High Commissioner for Singapore defends POFMA in letter to the Economist

Ms Foo Chi Hsia, UK High Commissioner for Singapore has defended the newly passed law, Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) by writing a letter to the Economist, in response to an article, “Singapore strikes its first official blows against fake news” published earlier this month, stating that Singapore’s laws are designed to meet its own context and needs.

The 7 Dec article on Economist was reporting on the correction made by US tech giant, Facebook on a post published by States Times Review (STR) in its social media platform under the instructions of the Singapore government. The article reported that the post had alleged that the country’s elections are rigged and that the next one could “possibly turn Singapore into a Christian state”.

It wrote, “The idea that the ruling People’s Action Party is trying to turn Singapore into a theocracy is absurd—even “scurrilous”, as the government put it. (The contention that it rigs elections is more defensible, although it does so not by stuffing ballot boxes, but by making life difficult for its critics and threatening adverse consequences for areas that vote for the opposition. It has won every general election in the past 60 years.)”

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Singapore strikes its first official blows against fake news

A tough new law adds to the government’s criticism-suppressing arsenal

Facebook is legally required to tell you that the Singapore government says this post has false information,” reads the message, which links to a government website. It appeared on November 30th on a post published by the States Times Review, a blog which delights in hectoring the Singaporean authorities. The post alleged that the country’s elections are rigged and that the next one could “possibly turn Singapore into a Christian state”.

The idea that the ruling People’s Action Party is trying to turn Singapore into a theocracy is absurd—even “scurrilous”, as the government put it. (The contention that it rigs elections is more defensible, although it does so not by stuffing ballot boxes, but by making life difficult for its critics and threatening adverse consequences for areas that vote for the opposition. It has won every general election in the past 60 years.)

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Government denounces Washington Post’s ‘false allegations’

The Government has called out The Washington Post for "perpetuating false allegations" after the American newspaper ran only parts of a letter from Singapore's ambassador to the United States.

Mr Ashok Kumar Mirpuri had responded to a Dec 2 article in the online edition of the Post about Facebook complying with the Government's directive to issue a correction under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma) last month.

The article had pointed out that Pofma could have a "chilling effect on online free expression" and "open the door to broad government censorship", points which Mr Mirpuri rebutted.

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Singapore Government says Washington Post article on online falsehoods law is ‘perpetuating false allegations’

Screengrab of The Washington Post article the Singapore Government was responding to

The Singapore Government said on Monday (Dec 16) that US publication The Washington Post's refusal to publish its response in full means it is “perpetuating false allegations” in an article about Singapore's online falsehoods law.

The Washington Post article on Dec 2 discussed Singapore’s use of directives under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA). It said Facebook had “for the first time complied with a controversial local law aimed at curbing misinformation” on a States Times Review article. The article added that critics were worried that the law could have “a chilling effect on online free expression”, quoting Mr Phil Robertson, Human Rights Watch's (HRW) deputy Asia director.

Five days after the article was published, Singapore's Ambassador to the US Ashok Kumar Mirpuri wrote a letter to the news outlet explaining Singapore's position. That letter was not published in full.

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In letter to Washington Post, Govt refutes Pofma criticism, saying it ‘has not suppressed anything

The Singapore Government has written a letter to the Washington Post to challenge an article it published on Singapore's new fake-news law, which the paper said had a “chilling effect” on freedom of expression and amounted to “censorship”

“Censorship entails banning or suppressing offending material. But the Government has not banned or suppressed anything. It has only required Facebook to append to the offending post a link to a factual correction. The original post remains intact,” said the letter dated Dec 7, written by Singapore’s US Ambassador Ashok Kumar Mirpuri.

“Readers can read it together with the Government’s response, and decide for themselves which tells the truth. This can no more have ‘a chilling effect on online free expression’ than your publishing this letter can stun The Washington Post into silence,” he added in the letter.

The Dec 2 Post article, titled “Facebook issues disclaimer demanded by Singapore Government”, described the way the Government had ordered Facebook under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma) on Nov 29 to run a correction with a States Times Review Facebook post that it said contained several falsehoods.

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Washington Post rapped for 'perpetuating false allegations' on Pofma

The Washington Post article had pointed out that Pofma, among other things, could have a "chilling effect on online free expression" - points which Mr Ashok Kumar Mirpuri, Singapore's ambassador to the US, has rebutted.PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM WASHINGTONPOST.COM

The Government has called out The Washington Post for "perpetuating false allegations" after the American newspaper ran only parts of a letter from Singapore's ambassador to the United States.

Mr Ashok Kumar Mirpuri had responded to a Dec 2 article in the online edition of the Post about Facebook complying with the Government's directive to issue a correction under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma) last month.

The article had pointed out that Pofma could have a "chilling effect on online free expression" and "open the door to broad government censorship", points which Mr Mirpuri rebutted.

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Facebook issues disclaimer demanded by Singapore government

Facebook users in Singapore spotted a correction on the social network over the weekend as the company for the first time complied with a controversial local law aimed at curbing misinformation.

“Facebook is legally required to tell you that the Singapore government says this post has false information,” said a disclaimer accompanying the post that the Singapore government ordered the social network to post, according to the Wall Street Journal.

It’s the first time an American tech company is known to have complied with the country's Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA), which took effect in October. Singapore's law is one of the most aggressive statutes drafted to date as governments around the world step up their regulation of tech giants. It allows government ministers to order tech companies to issue correction notices or remove material that officials say is false. But critics are concerned the law could open the door to broad government censorship.

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Lim Tean ‘POFMAd’ by Education Minister for false statements in two FB posts

The Ministry of Education (MOE) has instructed the POFMA Office to issue a Correction Direction to Mr Lim Tean on false statements made in two of his Facebook posts.

POFMA stands for the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act – an anti-fake news law that provides the government with powers to act against online falsehoods to protect public interest. The law, which went into effect in October, gives ministers the authority to determine what is an online falsehood and whether to take action.

The Government has flagged two Facebook posts published by Mr Lim on 12 December 2019 at 8.30am and 4pm respectively. In issuing the POFMA Correction Directive, the Education Minister charged that the Facebook posts by Mr Lim Tean contain false and misleading statements. The Correction Direction requires Mr Lim to carry in full, the correction notice at the top of both Facebook posts.

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Lawyer Lim Tean directed to correct Facebook posts under online falsehoods law

Singaporean lawyer Lim Tean has been directed to correct two Facebook posts related to the Ministry of Education's (MOE) spending on local and foreign students, the authorities said on Monday (Dec 16).

MOE said it has instructed the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) office to issue a Correction Direction to Mr Lim Tean, on the false statements made in two of his Facebook posts.
"The Correction Direction requires Mr Lim to carry, in full, a correction notice at the top of both Facebook posts," it said.

This is the fourth time correction directions have been issued since the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) came into force in October. On Saturday, directions were issued to Singapore Democratic Party (SDP). Previously, directions were issued to Progress Singapore Party member Brad Bowyer and the States Times Review.

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Govt fact-checking website Factually claims PVP chief’s statement on govt spending on foreign students “false and misleading”

People’s Voice Party (PVP) chief Lim Tean’s statement on the Government’s spending on foreign students is “false and misleading”, according to the Government’s fact-checking website Factually on Mon (16 Dec).

The website stated that contrary to Mr Lim’s assertion that “the total pot available to Singaporean students [is] $167 million compared to the $238 million that is spent on foreign students”, the Ministry of Education (MOE) spends “almost all” of its S$13 billion annual budget on Singaporean students. “The $167M cited by Mr Lim refers only to bursaries for Singaporean tertiary students, and grossly understates MOE’s total spending on Singaporean citizens for education,” Factually wrote, adding that the S$238 million figure cited by Mr Lim for foreign students is “not comparable” to the S$167 million he had cited for Singaporean students.

Mr Lim’s case marks the fourth time in which POFMA was used since it came into effect on 2 Oct, and came on the heels of the correction directions issued by Manpower Minister Josephine Teo against two Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) Facebook posts and an online article alleging that the increased retrenchment of local professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) were tied to competition from their foreign counterparts.

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Govt directs opposition member Lim Tean to correct falsehoods on education spending

In his posts, opposition member Lim Tean had said that the MOE spends more on foreign students than local ones

In a statement on Monday (Dec 16), the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma) Office said that Education Minister Ong Ye Kung had instructed it to issue a correction directive to Mr Lim in relation to the posts he made last Thursday.
In his posts, Mr Lim had said that the MOE spends more on foreign students than local ones. The correction direction would require Mr Lim to carry the full correction notice at the top of both Facebook posts.

This is the fourth such direction the Government has issued since the fake news law kicked in two months ago. On Saturday, the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) was directed to correct two Facebook posts and an article on its website that related to manpower issues. Directions have also been issued to Progress Singapore Party member Brad Bowyer and the States Times Review.

In a post on Facebook, Mr Lim said he is considering his legal options regarding the notice. Calling the correction direction "absurd", he added: "Anyone who read my post and the series of posts I made on this subject last week would have been under no mistaken impression that I was discussing the amount of money spent on grants and scholarships and not the overall spending on all Singaporean students."

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Opposition politician Lim Tean told to correct Facebook posts alleging that Govt spends more on foreign than local students

The correction direction requires Mr Lim Tean to carry, in full, a correction notice at the top of both Facebook posts.PHOTO: LIMTEAN/YOUTUBE, GOV.SG

The Government's fact-checking website Factually on Monday (Dec 16) cited two of Mr Lim's statements: “the total pot available to Singaporean students [is] $167 million compared to the $238 million that is spent on foreign students” and “PAP spends $167 million on Grants & Bursaries for Singaporeans, but $238 million on foreign students??”.

It said that the statements imply that the Education Ministry spends less on Singaporean students than on foreign students and called the statements false and misleading. Education Minister Ong Ye Kung has asked the Protection from Falsehoods and Manipulation Act office to issue the correction directions to Mr Lim, who is the People's Voice party chief.

When contacted, he described the Government's response as "absurd" and said that he was considering his legal options. He said: "Anyone who read my post and the series of posts I made on this subject last week would have been under no mistaken impression that I was discussing the amount of money spent on grants and scholarships and not the overall spending on all Singaporean students. "It is clear to me that Pofma is being used by this Government ahead of the upcoming general election to silence its opponents and chill public discussion of unpopular government policies."

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People's Voice chief Lim Tean ordered to correct FB posts under fake news law

Responding to the correction notice, Lim posted on Facebook on Monday morning, calling the move a “pathetic demand by a government that is obviously nervous about public reaction” over the “obvious fact” in his earlier post on grants and scholarships for foreign students.

“Anyone who read my post and the series of posts I made on this subject last week would have been under no mistaken impression that I was discussing the amount of money spent on grants and scholarships and not the overall spending on all Singaporean students,” he said, adding that he would be seeking legal advice over the notice.

Calling POFMA the “‘Cry Baby’ legislation”, he said it “must be repealed on the very first day a non-PAP government is elected into office”. As of 1pm on Monday, not correction notice was put up with regard to Lim’s offending posts.

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Brad Bowyer: Can the govt answer citizens’ questions without having to revert to POFMA

In the recent Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation (POFMA) episode directed at Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) by Ministry of Manpower (MOM), the government claims there are factual errors on the SDP’s part as it states that the number of local PMET’s has been increasing not decreasing but let’s drill down a little into that blanket surface claim.

A recent Channel News Asia article on Singapore’s population on 26 Sept gave figures for how many Permanent Residents (PRs) and New citizenships were given over the last few years. You can also find some of the data on Singstats and around other publications although there is no one definitive source.

Now to be a PR you must have worked here for at least 6 months already under an employment pass or S-Pass and to be a citizen you must have been a PR for at least 2 years. There are a few other categories but essentially you must have been working here, and thus in the foreign PMET workforce or the PR PMET workforce before you became a citizen (work permit holders almost never get PR or citizenship).

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Teo Soh Lung: Who will be the next victim of POFMA?

This notorious law, POFMA or Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act, passed with much wayang in May 2019, has claimed its third victim, the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) yesterday. I hope the party will give the Minister of Manpower, Josephine Teo a good fight.

In a matter of three weeks, our million dollar ministers – Heng Swee Keat, K Shanmugam and Josephine Teo have issued a multitude of POFMA correction directions against three parties. These ministers are obviously so bored that they have taken to reading and scrutinising blogs and Facebook posts!

Who will be the next victim? And which minister will issue the 4th notice? How many more ministers will issue more notices? It seems that the ministers are now busy searching for victims! Maybe it is for the purpose of muffling voices before the next general election which is rumoured to be March 2020. Pending criminal defamation cases and civil claims have not drowned all voices.

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Singapore’s fake news law: protecting the truth, or restricting free debate?

Singapore first used the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act on November 25, against opposition politician Brad Bowyer. Photo: AFP

In May, as Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s top ministers took turns in parliament to hammer home just why they thought the country needed a new law to fight “fake news” despite reservations from activists and academics, the opposition leader rose to dampen their parade.

Workers’ Party chief Pritam Singh said his party would not back the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma) over fears that it could be used as a “proverbial Damocles sword” against those who “do not support the government’s narrative or toe the government’s line”. Still, the law was easily passed because of the parliamentary supermajority held by Lee’s People’s Action Party (PAP) for decades.

K. Shanmugam, the home and law minister who vigorously campaigned to beat back local and international criticism of the law, said at the time that free speech proponents had little to worry about as Pofma only targeted “falsehoods”, “bots”, “trolls” and “fake accounts”.

related:
Singapore’s fake news law: a lesson to Asia in stifling dissent?
Spore’s opposition calls fake-news bill a ‘Damocles sword’ hanging over the public

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POFMA, a blank cheque for the government to defame?

Just last week, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) issued three correction orders under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA), upon Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) over three online postings made by the party.

MOM claims that the posts and article from SDP contained “a misleading graphic and false statements of fact”. SDP is required to carry the correction notice at the top of both Facebook posts and the article on its website, which it has done. SDP has also followed the correction notice with a statement of its own saying that while it is complying with the order, the party will also be applying to cancel the correction direction.

The full correction by MOM is posted on the government’s fact-correction site ‘Factually’.

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3 Instances Of POFMA Invoked

Singapore invokes fake-news law again

The Singapore government invoked its fake news law on Saturday to order an opposition party to publish corrections on two social media posts and an article on its website about local employment.

It is the third time that authorities have used the law, called the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma), since it came into effect two months ago. But it is the first time it has been used against a political party.

The government ordered the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) to issue corrections to a sponsored Facebook post, another post on its page on the social network as well as an article on its website about the city-state’s job market.

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Fake news law invoked for 2nd time in 4 days, States Times Review directed to correct Facebook post

A screenshot of the corrections and clarifications regarding falsehoods posted by States Times Review on Facebook.PHOTO: GOV.SG

The person who runs the Facebook page of alternative news site States Times Review was directed on Thursday (Nov 28) under the Republic's fake news law to correct false statements in a post on the page.

This is the second time the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma) has been invoked after it was used on Monday in relation to a separate Facebook post by opposition party member Brad Bowyer.

The Pofma Office said on Thursday that it was instructed by Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam to issue a correction direction to Mr Alex Tan Zhi Xiang regarding a post on the States Times Review Facebook page on Nov 23.

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POFMA fake news law invoked for first time

Singapore political figure Brad Bowyer. — Picture via facebook.com/SGBelieves

Singapore political figure Brad Bowyer today corrected a Facebook post questioning the independence of state investment firms following a government request, in the first use of the country's new “fake news” law.

Bowyer used “false and misleading” statements alleging the government influenced decisions made by state investors Temasek Holdings and GIC, according to a statement on the official government fact-checking website.

Bowyer said he had placed a correction notice with a link to the government statement above his Facebook post following a request to do so under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma). “I have no problem in following that request as I feel it is fair to have both points of view and clarifications and corrections of fact when necessary,” Bowyer said in a statement on Facebook.

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PM Lee: “POFMA would catch you!”

At the National Day Rally 2019 yesterday (18 Aug), Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong took the opportunity to lash out at fake news circulating on social media, saying that government would be changing withdrawal policies of the Central Provident Funds or CPF withdrawal ages

In the script published on PMO’s website, PM Lee said, “Let me add one last point here, to be absolutely clear: we are not making any changes to CPF withdrawal policies or CPF withdrawal ages. You can still take out some money at age 55. And you can still start your CPF payouts from age 65.”

“All that remains exactly the same. So please ignore any rumours you may hear about this, or messages on WhatsApp, because they are fake news!”

On national TV yesterday, however, he added the following warning, “Please delete it and tell your friends. Don’t share it with more friends and confuse people because that would be fake news.” “POFMA would catch you!” he added.

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