Budget embargo breach: Mothership gets press accreditation suspended

The press accreditation for local media outlet Mothership has been suspended after it broke an embargo on the Budget on Friday.

Responding to queries from The Sunday Times, a spokesman for the Ministry of Communications and Information said mothership.sg's press accreditation has been suspended because it broke an embargo on Budget information shared with selected media outlets slightly ahead of the announcements.

It has until March 4 to appeal.

ST understands that Mothership had released an infographic with details of the planned goods and services tax hike before Finance Minister Lawrence Wong announced this in Parliament.

The suspension means that mothership.sg's representatives will not be able to attend briefings and press conferences by government agencies. It is not clear how long the suspension will last.

Mothership's managing editor Martino Tan said the breaking of the embargo was a genuine mistake made through the premature publication of the infographic on Mothership's Facebook page.

"We identified the mistake in under two minutes and immediately deleted the post. While further investigations ensue, the staff involved have been issued a two-week suspension," he said.

Mr Tan added that Mothership is cooperating fully with the authorities in their investigations.

"We sincerely apologise for the egregious mistake, particularly to the public servants who have been working so hard to ensure the timely and accurate communication of government information."