Singaporean government’s response, in the form of the Protection From Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Bill that was presented to parliament on 1 April, is completely inappropriate.
The bill combines loose wording with catch-all formulations that extend the range of applicability of the penalties to absolutely all content circulating online.
the bill grants every government minister the right to issue a directive censoring, correcting or blocking access to online content that threatens what the minister considers to be “in the public interest” without satisfactorily explaining this concept (article 4). Similarly articles 4, 7, 8 and 9 allow ministers to take measures against any entity in order to “prevent a diminution of public confidence in [...] the government [or] an organ of state.”
RSF has long been concerned about the possibility that governments could adopt laws that use combatting fake news as a pretext for imposing censorship. In response, RSF launched an innovative self-regulatory initiative a year ago called the Journalism Trust Initiative (JTI), which aims to promote trustworthy journalism by giving concrete advantages to media outlets that adhere to journalistic standards.
'Loose wording, ministers' discretionary powers, disproportionate penalties, biased legislative process... Everything, in #Singapore #FakeNews Bill, is a horrifying censorship tool'
The Protection From Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Bill was presented in parliament on 1 April. A RED FLAG is obviously raised here!
This is a major threat to our freedom of expression.
Why is Singapore’s anti-fake news bill so terrible? Reporters Without Borders explains here!
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