Google halts political ads in Singapore as election looms, according to documents

SINGAPORE: Google has stopped accepting political advertisements in Singapore months before a widely expected election, according to documents shared by a political party which said it was angered by the decision that denies it voter reach.

In an email correspondence between the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) and a senior Google public policy official, the tech firm said it “will not accept advertising regulated by the Code of Practice for

Transparency of Online Political Advertisements”.

A spokesman for Alphabet Inc’s Google told Reuters the email exchange was authentic but declined to comment further.

The new code of practice, part of a controversial “fake news” law introduced in October, requires advertising intermediaries to maintain detailed records of political adverts and their sponsors and make those records available to authorities.

The code applies to “all advertisement or paid content that can reasonably be regarded as being directed towards a political end”.

Singapore, which has been ruled by the People’s Action Party since independence in 1965, has said it is vulnerable to foreign interference in its domestic affairs. The citystate is gearing up for an election expected to take place within months.

SDP said the “shocking policy” would deprive voters of information.

“In an election with the media totally dominated by the state, alternative parties would have no ability to educate and inform the voters of Singapore in the run up to the elections if we are not able to use Google’s advertising platforms in the first place,” SDP chairman Paul Tambyah said.

The office administrating the new fake news law did not immediately respond to a request for comment. – Reuters