Swift action will be taken against falsehoods about the Wuhan virus as there is otherwise a grave risk they will spread and cause panic among Singaporeans, Minister for Communications and Information S. Iswaran said yesterday.
That is the reason there is Pofma, or the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act, he added.
"We will not hesitate to use the powers under the law to take action against any party that spreads such falsehoods," he said at a press conference chaired by Health Minister Gan Kim Yong.
He noted that on Sunday night, the Pofma Office issued a correction direction to online forum HardwareZone to correct a fake post that someone had died in Singapore from the virus.
Even though the post was eventually taken down, more than 4,600 unique visitors viewed it in the 21/2 hours it was up, he said.
"Some who viewed the post would have shared it with others and been misled by it," Mr Iswaran said.
While information can help to inform, educate and build trust, it can be abused to spread falsehoods and create anxiety, alarm and panic, and this was being seen in the Wuhan virus situation, he added.
Several other posts alleging unverified information in recent days have prompted the authorities to issue clarifications.
Last Saturday, a thread of messages on HardwareZone said Singapore repatriated more than 100 Wuhan tourists to China, leading to Facebook clarifications by the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority that roundly refuted this as untrue.
Last Friday, a message circulating on WhatsApp also told recipients to avoid going to Tan Tock Seng Hospital and KK Women's and Children's Hospital as patients from China were being sent there.
MOH on the same day clarified on Facebook that people need not do this because all public hospitals "have strict protocols to handle and manage suspect cases", including their immediate isolation and further assessment.
Also on Friday, a separate Whats-App message and video told people to avoid Eastpoint Mall in Simei because the first suspected case had been reported there. MOH said there is no need to do so, as protocol had been followed in transporting the patient in an ambulance to hospital for further investigation.
The patient had visited Raffles Medical clinic at Eastpoint Mall the day before.
Mr Iswaran said the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) and MOH are working together to keep Singaporeans informed on multiple platforms, including the MOH website, the Gov.sg website, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and government fact-checking website Factually.
Television, radio, newspapers, as well as digital display panels in Housing Board blocks are also being used so that all segments of society can be reached, he said.
The Gov.sg WhatsApp broadcast list has seen more than 56,000 new subscribers since Sunday, a surge which saw it experiencing some delays. Mr Iswaran said the Government is working with Facebook and WhatsApp on possible solutions to such lags, and said information continues to be available on the other listed platforms.
"Please rely on information only from trusted sources," he said.
