POFMA order: Fake news correction directions issued to Meta after FB & IG users reposted statements by activist group on executions in Singapore

SINGAPORE: On Tuesday (Nov 5), the Ministry for Home Affairs instructed the Office for the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) to issue targeted corrections to Meta over posts on Facebook and Instagram.

MHA said in a media release that it was aware of 10 Facebook and 30 Instagram reposts that had been put up on Oct 23 and 24.

The ministry added that these reposts on social media were false statements made by the activist group Transformative Justice Collective on Oct 2.

These posts were said to have contained false statements in relation to the scheduling of executions in Singapore, as well as the prosecution of drug trafficking charges.

On Oct 5, the group was issued a correction direction and was required to state that the posts contained false statements, which TCJ complied with the following day.

However, MHA wrote that TCJ had “chosen to communicate falsehoods that they knew or should have known contained false statements” when they put their posts again in late October.

With the POFMA office issuing Targeted Correction Directions to Meta, the platform is required to alert users who have seen the reposted content that these contain false statements.

Additionally, Meta needs to provide Facebook and Instagram users with the link issued by the government of Singapore that clarifies the issue:

“Corrections regarding false statements concerning legal processes for Prisoners Awaiting Capital Punishment and the prosecution of drug trafficking charges.”

The clarification allows the public to examine the falsehoods and facts without requiring the original posts to be removed, and they can decide the truth for themselves.

In related news, MHA announced on Oct 31 that activist Kokila Annamalai, who is part of TCJ, was opting not to comply with the Oct 5 correction direction order despite being repeatedly reminded to do so.

Neither is Ms Annamalai seeking to challenge the POFMA order in court.

In a Facebook post, she said she stood by everything she had written but had not decided to defy the POFMA order.

Those convicted of failing to comply with a correction direction without a reasonable excuse may face a fine of as much as $20,000, a jail term of as long as one year, or both.

Those found guilty of communicating a false statement of fact may be fined as much as $50,000, jailed for up to five years, or both. /TISG

Read also: POFMA correction order issued to activist group Transformative Justice Collective over claims about death row prisoner