Facebook has added a correction notice to a post that Singapore's government said contained false information.
Facebook bows to Singapore's 'fake news' law with post
'correction'
December 2, 2019
It is the first time Facebook has
issued such a notice under the city-state's controversial "fake news"
law.
Singapore claimed the post, by
fringe news site States Times Review (STR), contained "scurrilous
accusations".
The note issued by the social
media giant said it "is legally required to tell you that the Singapore
government says this post has false information".
Facebook's addition was embedded
at the bottom of the original post, which was not altered. It was only visible
to social media users in Singapore.
In an emailed statement to the BBC, Facebook said it had applied
a label to a post "determined by the Singapore government to contain false
information", as required under the "fake news" law.
The company - which has its Asia
headquarters in the city-state - said it hoped assurances that the law would
not impact on free expression "will lead to a measured and transparent
approach to implementation".
How did we get here?
The States Times Review post
contained accusations about the arrest of an alleged whistleblower and
election-rigging.
The government said no one had been arrested, and accused the STR
of making "scurrilous accusations against the elections department, the
prime minister, and the election process in Singapore".
Authorities ordered editor Alex
Tan to correct the post but the Australian citizen refused, saying he would "not comply with any order from a foreign government".
Authorities
then called on Facebook to "publish a
correction notice" in line with the "fake news" law passed
earlier this year.
What is the 'fake news' law?
The law, known as the Protection
from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation bill, came into effect in October.
It allows the government to order
online platforms to remove and correct what it deems to be false statements
that are "against the public interest".
A person found guilty of doing
this in Singapore could be fined heavily and face a prison sentence of up to
five years.
The law also bans the use of fake
accounts or bots to spread fake news - this carries penalties of up to S$1m
(£563,000, $733,700) and a jail term of up to 10 years.
What's been said about it?
Critics say the law threatens
freedom of expression. Amnesty International said it would "give
authorities unchecked powers to clamp down on online views of which it disapproves".
But Singapore's law minister said
free speech "should not be affected by this bill", adding that it was
aimed only at tackling "falsehoods, bots, trolls and fake accounts".
The government has argued that
the law safeguards against abuse of power by allowing judicial reviews of its
orders.
Has anyone else been affected?
Singapore's government invoked
the law for the first time on Monday to order opposition politician Brad Bowyer
to correct a Facebook post questioning the independence of state investment
funds.
Mr Bowyer complied, adding a note
to the post saying it "contains false statements of fact".
On the same day, Mr Bowyer wrote
a new post saying he was "not against being asked to make clarifications
or corrections especially if it is in the public interest".
But on Thursday, Mr Bowyer clarified his earlier statement, saying: "Although
I have no problems in following the law...that does not mean that I agree with
the position they are taking or admit to any false statements on my part."
He also said that, under the law,
he must post the correction notice "regardless of whether I make an
appeal".
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