SINGAPORE, Dec 17 — The Online Citizen (TOC) has been ordered by Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs to issue a correction notice on an article published on November 22, which contained false statements regarding Singapore’s death penalty.
Under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma), TOC must also post correction notices on its social media platforms.
“TOC’s article... alleges that the state suppresses dissenting views on the death penalty through Pofma Correction Directions. This is false,” the ministry said in a statement sighted by Channel News Asia (CNA) today.
The ministry further clarified that Pofma Directions are issued only when “a false statement of fact has been communicated, and if it is in the public interest to do so.”
It explained that such directions require the government’s position to be presented alongside the original post, allowing the public to view both and form their own conclusions, rather than suppressing dissent.
Additionally, the article misrepresented comments made by Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam in a CNN interview, suggesting contradictions in Singapore’s drug policies.
The ministry rebutted, stating, “It is misleading (and hence false) for the author to omit relevant facts, and selectively quote the minister, to reach the position that the minister had taken contradictory positions about Singapore’s anti-drug policies.”
It added that the minister’s full statement highlighted Singapore’s relative success in controlling drug trafficking, underscored by the country’s “zero-tolerance and comprehensive drug policy, including the death penalty.”
TOC has since added the required correction notice to the article on its website, as well as on its Facebook and Instagram posts.
