SINGAPORE - The Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) has requested a further hearing in the first court challenge against fake news law corrections, to deal with what it called deliberate mischaracterisations of its arguments by the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP).
The AGC is accusing the SDP of making misleading statements about proceedings that took place last week during what was already a hearing involving whether the SDP had made misleading statements.
That two-day hearing, an appeal by the SDP against the correction directions it was ordered last month to post alongside its Facebook posts and an article on its website, concluded on Friday with the judgement reserved for a later date. The case was the first court appeal against a correction direction under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma).
In a letter to the High Court on Monday (Jan 20), The AGC took issue with two articles about the court proceedings posted on the SDP website last week.
The first article, posted after the first day of the hearing on Thursday, suggests that the AGC had made the case that it is the minister's interpretation of a statement is "determinative" of the matter, the AGC said, adding that it had made clear that this was not the Attorney-General's (A-G) case.
"It is the A-G's case that while the minister's interpretation is important as the minister must first form a bona fide view as to what a reasonable interpretation of the subject statement is in order to decide whether to take action under Pofma , it is the court (and not the minister) which ultimately decides what the subject statement means."
The SDP article was "calculated to embarrass the minister and falsely portray Pofma in a negative light", and was also posted after the first day of the hearing last Thursday, before the AGC had the opportunity to make its arguments in court, the AGC said.
Justice Ang Cheng Hock told the SDP on the second day of the hearing on Friday that it should ensure that any report or comment made in relation to the ongoing proceedings is accurate and correct, according to the AGC.
But in a second article posted on Saturday, the SDP "repeated the same false and dishonest narrative", the AGC said.
In doing so, the SDP cited a Straits Times article quoting Deputy A-G Hri Kumar Nair, but omitted "critical parts" of what Mr Nair had told reporters after the hearing, the AGC added.
Given the judge's reminder on the second day of the hearing, the SDP cannot say that its error was innocent, or even negligent, the AGC said.
It added that the manner in which it "cherry picks the ST article and materially misrepresents the A-G's arguments" is the same modus operandi it employed when it published an article in June last year that later attracted one of the Pofma corrections, the AGC said.
"The SDP's conduct is completely unacceptable," said the AGC.
"It has acted in blatant defiance of His Honour's reminder that any report or comment by the SDP in relation to the ongoing proceedings should be accurate and correct, and its conduct risks undermining public confidence in the administration of justice."
The AGC added in its letter to the Court: "In view of the severity of the SDP's misconduct and its recalcitrance, we seek leave for a hearing before His Honour. We would be grateful if this letter and its accompanying enclosures are placed before His Honour as soon as possible."
In its response, the SDP denied misrepresenting what Mr Nair had said, pointing again to same quote in the ST article that the AGC had accused it of using out of context.
It added: "The SDP does not believe that this is end of the matter under the Act... The fact that we've taken the matter to court makes clear our stand that the government does not have a final say in the matter."
