Facebook has Saturday a message from a user marked as fake news after the Singapore government had requested this from the platform. The report can only be seen by Facebook users in Singapore, Reuters reports.
This is a message from Facebook user Alex Tan who posted a message about the Singapore elections on the States Times Review page. According to Tan, the election would be an all-out card and a whistleblower would have been arrested.
Earlier this week, the Singapore government demanded that Facebook adjust the message. In the first instance, Facebook did not respond to this requirement, but on Saturday the message was still marked by the platform.
Users in Singapore will now see a notification below the message stating that “Facebook is required by law to tell you that the Singaporean government says that this message contains false information”.
In Singapore there has been a new law since October that allows the government to demand this from Facebook. The Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) allows Singaporean ministers to order to delete or correct a message if they themselves think it is fake news.
Violating the law is a 10-year prison sentence or a fine of 1 million Singaporean dollars (660,000 euros). Tan does not live in Singapore, but in Australia. He did not respond to questions from Reuters.
About the author: Wesley C Waldo
Wesley C Waldo, a promising writer who is preparing to publish his first novel in 2023. Travels a lot and collects the clues for a new book. He writes on social topics, sometimes describes an event or two.
