Reports of Fake News Related to COVID-19

33 Ms Tin Pei Ling asked the Minister for Communications and Information (a) how many incidents of fake news pertaining to COVID-19 have been identified and reported since January 2020; (b) what actions have been taken to tackle these fake news in the midst of a public health crisis; (c) who are some of the creators of these fake news; and (d) how are they held accountable for their misbehaviour.

The Minister for Communications and Information (Mr S Iswaran): Mr Speaker, Sir, since late January 2020, Government agencies have clarified and debunked about 40 instances of speculation, rumours, scams and outright falsehoods pertaining to COVID-19.

Amidst this crisis, our agencies have spared no effort to swiftly put out the facts, to dispel confusion and calm anxieties fomented by such falsehoods. The clarifications have been conveyed through the media, on Government websites, social media and the Gov.sg channel on WhatsApp and Telegram. Our primary focus is on ensuring that Singaporeans receive reliable and accurate information in a timely manner.

We have also used the powers under POFMA – the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act – to require purveyors of falsehoods to place factual corrections alongside false claims. These actions have been against Singaporeans, here or abroad, as well as some foreign parties and websites.

We will not hesitate to use the full force of the law against those who deliberately or maliciously purvey falsehoods. As was elaborated earlier, recently, an individual was charged in Court under the Miscellaneous Offences Act for claiming on Facebook that he had Government “intel” about tighter measures coming up.

Purveyors of falsehoods must be held accountable, but we all have a role to play in stemming the spread of false information, especially as some may have carelessly shared misinformation. It is of utmost importance, especially at a time of crisis like this, that each and every one of us does the right thing by checking that the messages we receive come from reliable sources and make the effort to verify a claim or piece of information before sharing it.

Ms Tin Pei Ling (MacPherson): I thank the Minister for the answer. First of all, I would like to ask whether the numbers or is there a downward trend of such fake news. Such creators of fake news I would like to think of them as social anarchies. Are we adequately equipped to really identify these creators and take very strong action against them especially in such a public health crisis? We should not let them get away with this.

Mr S Iswaran: Mr Speaker, I thank the Member for her questions. First, on the numbers and whether there is a clear trend, I would say that some of the actions that we took at the early stages of this crisis have had a salutary effect in injecting further restraint in the propensity to share such information or to purvey such false information. Having said that, I think they are also episodic; and we see sometimes, for want of a better word, a cluster pop-up because there is a new source of information and then others build on it. So, I would say in general, it has a leavening effect, a salutary effect in bringing the propensity down, but we still see some instances popping up from time to time.

Secondly, are we well-equipped to deal with this? On the part of the Government, we are not going out on the basis of trying to identify who are the purveyors on an ex ante basis. What we do do is, when the false information is brought to our attention then we take quick action. And the action that we take we have a range of responses, from clarifications to correction orders under the POFMA legislation, to even more serious actions that we can take, under POFMA, under the Miscellaneous Offences Act and even the Penal Code.

So, we have a range of tools at our disposal and depending on the circumstances of each case and the outcome of investigations, the Public Prosecutor will decide if more serious action is to be taken.

So, on the whole, I think we have a comprehensive toolkit to deal with this but ultimately, I want to emphasise again the important role that all of us play because, ultimately, such falsehoods will find no traction if we do not give them any traction.

3.00 pm

Mr Speaker: Order. End of Question Time. Ministerial Statements. Minister for Health.

[Pursuant to Standing Order No 22(3), Written Answers to Question Nos 34-35, 37-39, 45-48 and 51 on the Order Paper are reproduced in the Appendix. Question Nos 36, 40-44 and 49-50 have been postponed to the sitting of Parliament on 5 May 2020.]