Singapore Government Pushes Fake News Law Which Will Give It More Options To Shut Down Critics
from the legislating-the-news dept
Fake news laws aren't harmless. They don't protect the public. They're useless. And they lend themselves to censorship. Given these factors, it's tough to believe any of the proponents of fake news laws are proceeding in good faith but blinded by good intentions and fuzzy logic.
Anywhere they've been put in place, they've lead directly to governments taking action against political opponents, dissidents, and activists. Excuses are made about national security and protecting the public, but in the end, it's the public that ends up short on protection.
Singapore's new fake news bill is no exception. Legislators began pushing this bill last year, using their own fake news to claim the proposal had widespread support from the country's residents. The committee behind the legislation heavily editorialized the feedback it received at a public hearing, presenting a vocal opponent's comments as being supportive of instituting a fake news law.
Roughly a year later, the bill has materialized, according to the New York Times.
Singapore introduced draft legislation on Monday that it said would combat false or misleading information on the internet, but critics said the measure could be used as a cudgel against the government’s critics.
The legislation, called the Protection From Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Bill, would require websites to run corrections alongside “online falsehoods” and would “cut off profits” of sites that spread misinformation, among other measures, according to the Ministry of Law.
The bill is widely expected to become law in the coming weeks because it has support from Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s People’s Action Party, which has a supermajority in Parliament
The bill can't define "fake news" with any particularity. This all but ensures the law, if it passes, will be abused frequently. What's being called fake news is anything that "reduces public confidence" or "incites hatred or ill will" between groups of people. So, yeah, this would cover a lot of what's posted to social media, especially the "inciting ill will" part.
Supposedly, this new law won't target criticism, satire, or parody. But that's been said about similar laws, which have gone on to target criticism, satire, and parody. The government will decide what is or isn't "truth" and enforce accordingly.
According to a draft of the bill, punishments for some violations could include fines of up to about $44,000 and a prison term of up to six years for individuals, or fines of up to about $738,000 in “any other case.”
This will be a welcome addition to the censorial toolkit Singapore's government can wield against critics and opponents. As the New York Times article notes, Singapore bears a passing resemblance to a democracy thanks to its election process, but there has never been a change in power as a result of this process. The government already uses the country's criminal defamation law to muffle criticism. This law won't improve the current state of speech in Singapore. It will only make it worse.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: censorship, criticism, fake news, free speech, politics, singapore
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Like a rapist, It is all about control. Live free. It is better to die in a pool of your own blood than a puddle of your own urine. See you at the barricades.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Governments traditionally combated fake news by shutting down the printing presses and stopping publications at the border. Since more and more people of the world get their fake news from US-based websites like Facebook and Twitter, will such a law in a country as tiny as Singapore have much if any effect on the content of these mega-sites which currently get to determine for themselves what constitutes fake news and how to suppress it?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Your comment assumes the term is valid?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
The term is impossible to define because it is a bullshit term to begin with. It was born out of bullshit and remains covered. This scenario will continue to occur, possibly becoming worse. Looks like a human self destruct mechanism.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Probably no more undefined than Hate Speech, which was the topic of a Congressional hearing yesterday whose official livestream comment section was abruptly shut down by Youtube reps for -- who would have guessed? -- Hate Speech -- effectively silencing the response of the very people who would be most impacted by (presumably upcoming) hate speech laws that the hearing was supposed to be about.
https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2019/04/09/youtube-disables-comments-on-livestream-of-house-ju diciary-hate-crime-hearing/
Fake news ... terrorism ... hate speech ... it's all a matter of which side is doing it and which side is on the receiving end.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
"Probably no more undefined than Hate Speech"
"it's all a matter of which side is doing it and which side is on the receiving end."
also .... breitbart? really? Is this some kind of joke?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Like Americans (including bloggers) never engage in doublespeak. I guess that's why they recognize the tactic so well. Like the husband who cheats on his wife always accusing her of infidelity.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
What are you trying to say? Or are you engaging in non-speak?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
"Like Americans (including bloggers) never engage in doublespeak."
Of course they do, who said otherwise? Seems to be a human trait to lie, cheat and project it all upon your critics.
Fake news is double speak? Or is the claim of fake news the double speak? Guess I need to re-read that book because I fail to see the similarity.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Critics?
Let us ask a question about shutting them down..
If you dont let people talk, you cant DEBATE with them. you cant solve the problem..
And them people use Other ways to complain.
Then they get more upset because those in charge ARNT doing what is needed..
And the ones incharge CANT see whats happening, before it gets REAL bad..
Which is easier...
Watch and monitor, and be able to track information and problems, or HIDE your head in the dirt. Without the info you cant TRACK those persons, esp. those on cellphones..
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Fake News law written by Fake Government,
film at eleven
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
nakliyat
istanbul evden eve nakliyat https://www.colakoglunakliyat.com.tr
[ link to this | view in chronology ]