My Thoughts on Singapore’s Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA)

Singapore was once against been thrown into the international spotlight when we criminalized fake news. The POFMA, came into effect on 2 October 2019, and it gives the Government the power to hold online news sources and platforms accountable if they proliferate deliberate online falsehoods.

Naturally, proponents of free speech, both in Singapore and around the world, are up in arms. They claim that the law will allow the government to further stifle dissent in an already tightly controlled media environment.

I agree that the fake news law is subject to abuse. Just like any law. Even innocuous laws like jaywalking, smoking, and littering can be abused. If a government wanted to persecute a citizen, these laws can be taken to the extreme and used with equally chilling effects.

But, being a user of social media as a tool of communications and influence, I am cognizant of the danger fake news poses. In fact, I see continued and deliberate manipulation of news to cause strife by individuals under the guise of free speech or satire. Judging from the responses, it is obvious that the targets are not aware that they are being manipulated.

Here is my take on POFMA.

Sleeper Effect. During the Second World War, Psychologist Carl Howland studied the impact of propaganda films on soldiers. What the study found was that while there was no noticeable change to the soldiers’…