Fake news law invoked for the first time over Facebook post

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Singapore's fake news law was invoked for the first time yesterday, about two months after it took effect.

Progress Singapore Party member Brad Bowyer became the first person to receive a correction order under the law, which is designed to curb the spread of falsehoods that can go viral online in a matter of minutes.

The Ministry of Finance said Mr Bowyer's Facebook post on investments by GIC, Temasek and other government-linked companies contains "clearly false statements of fact, and undermines public trust in the Government".

Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat had initiated the order, which required Mr Bowyer to put up a correction note alongside the post that remained online.

Mr Bowyer, who complied, later said in another Facebook post that he was merely using publicly available data to question the investment decisions.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 26, 2019, with the headline Fake news law invoked for the first time over Facebook post. Subscribe