16-9-2023 (SINGAPORE) Singapore’s internet service providers are set to restrict access to the Australia-based academic website, East Asia Forum, following the platform’s failure to comply with a correction directive issued by the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) Office. The Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) made this announcement on Saturday, September 16, just three days after the POFMA order was directed at East Asia Forum.
The MCI outlined that the Access Blocking Orders mandate internet service providers to disable access for Singaporean end-users attempting to visit the East Asia Forum’s website, where misinformation has been disseminated.
The POFMA order pertains to allegations made in an article titled “A Spate of Scandals Strikes Singapore,” authored by Dr. Ying-Kit Chan from the National University of Singapore. According to the Prime Minister’s Office, the article contains erroneous claims regarding the independence of the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s approach to addressing extramarital affairs among parliamentarians.
East Asia Forum is now obligated, as per the POFMA order, to prominently publish a correction notice on both the article itself and the website’s main page. However, as of 12:30 pm on Saturday, East Asia Forum had only included a link to a government statement at the bottom of the article’s comments section.
The MCI stated that if East Asia Forum subsequently complies with the full requirements of the Correction Directive, the Access Blocking Orders may be revoked.
In a separate development, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Indranee Rajah, has directed the POFMA Office to issue a targeted correction directive to Facebook’s Meta Platforms concerning the East Asia Forum article. Meta Platforms will be mandated to publish a correction notice for Facebook users in Singapore who accessed the East Asia Forum post on August 18, which shared the contentious article.
This move marks the latest instance of Singapore taking action to restrict access to an online publication that has failed to adhere to a POFMA order. In June, Singapore implemented a similar measure after Asia Sentinel neglected to carry a correction notice in accordance with the requirements. The Ministry of Home Affairs had previously declared in May that the Asia Sentinel article, which featured an interview with the author of a 2021 commentary criticizing Singapore’s handling of KTV lounges during the COVID-19 pandemic, contained numerous falsehoods. Consequently, the California-registered publication remains inaccessible to users in Singapore.
