Facebook asked to block page access
The Singaporean government has piled on the pressure against The States Times Review (STR) portal by asking Facebook to disable access for Singaporeans to STR’s Facebook page, the first time such a request was forwarded to the tech giant.
The move was made a few days after authorities asked Facebook to label STR’s Facebook page as a ‘Declared Online Location’ (DOL) to warn visitors that the page had a history of communicating falsehoods.
“Communications and Information Minister, S. Iswaran instructed the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma) Office to order the social media giant to take action under Section 34 of the Act, which took effect last October,” said TodayOnline.
The Communications and Information Ministry previously explained that the DOL and disabling access to STR’s Facebook page was because it repeatedly conveyed falsehoods and had not complied with any of the Pofma directions it was given.
It was also made an offence for page owner, Alex Tan, to receive benefits from operating the page and prohibited “the provision of financial support to it for the purposes of supporting, helping or promoting the communication of falsehoods”.
Tan, a Singaporean living inAustralia, said he would not comply with the authorities’ demands that he correct his postings on STR’s Facebook page.
The Pofma office said several false statements were made in a post on the STR Facebook page on Feb 13, forcing it to lay out the false statements made by Tan in an article on ‘Factually’ — an official fact-checking website — and debunk them, said the portal.
The Mothership portal said some of the articles that Tan published on Covid-19 included claims that the government was unable to trace the source of infection for any of the cases and that the government was paying “China workers” on Leaves of Absence S$100 a day.
The authorities clarified that sources for most of the Covid-19 cases in Singapore had been traced to either travel history to mainland China or links with previously announced cases.
It was also explained that it was the employers of workers on Leaves of Absence who receive the S$100 support, and this covered all workers, regardless of nationality.
STR was founded in November 2018 and is described as “a nonprofit hobby” of Tan, who holds dual citizenship in Singapore and Australia, according to ZDNet portal.
The site maintained its “independence and credibility” by rejecting donations, but accepted “contributions” via PayPal from those who wanted to gain free access to the site.
Non-compliance to a Pofma directive is an offence under the Act, and offenders could face up to three or five years’ imprisonment, a S$30,000 or S$50,000 fine, or both.