SINGAPORE, Dec 23 — The Singapore government has issued a Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma) correction direction to Bloomberg, The Edge Singapore, The Independent Singapore and The Online Citizen, following false claims about Good Class Bungalow (GCB) transactions.
Channel News Asia reported (CNA) the correction order stems from articles and posts that were found to contain inaccurate statements regarding the transparency of GCB transactions.
Bloomberg’s December 12 article, “Singapore Mansion Deals Are Increasingly Shrouded in Secrecy”, was republished by The Edge Singapore and shared on social media by both Bloomberg and The Edge Singapore. The Independent Singapore and The Online Citizen also based articles on Bloomberg’s claims.
Under the correction notice, the publications are required to clarify that their articles contained false information and provide links to the government’s official statement.
A check by CNA confirmed that articles from The Edge Singapore and The Independent Singapore were no longer available by Monday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam and Manpower Minister Tan See Leng announced on December 16 that they would pursue legal action against Bloomberg and other media outlets for publishing “libellous” statements about their property dealings. They issued letters of demand, warning that legal action could follow if their demands were not met.
