Singapore — The Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) issued its first set of correction directions in the 2020 General Elections on July 2.
People’s Voice (PV) Secretary-General Lim Tean’s Youtube channel and PV’s Facebook page were issued with the correction directions. This was due to a video uploaded on both these platforms containing a false statement with regards to government expenditure on foreign students.
In the video uploaded on both platforms, Mr Lim was seen saying:
“We spend a quarter of a billion dollars providing free education for foreigners every year.”
The government website Factually, corrected the statement on July 2, saying:
“This is false and misleading. MOE does not spend a quarter of a billion dollars to provide free education for foreigners every year.
While MOE spends about S$238 million on foreign students a year as stated in a parliamentary reply on August 5, 2019, the significant majority of these students are still required to pay fees higher than those of local students and/or fulfil a bond obligation after graduation.”
In 2019, Mr Lim was also issued a POFMA correction direction regarding the issue of government expenditure on foreign students.
A few netizens came out in support of Mr Lim regarding the POFMA issue.
However, some other netizens were adamant that Mr Lim will not be getting their support.
Many also helped to explain why Mr Lim was issued the correction direction, clarifying the difference between what Mr Lim said and what the fact is.
Other netizens raised problems regarding POFMA that went beyond just what Mr Lim said.
Many also took away important information from the clarification made by Factually.
