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Censorship Government

Fake News Posters In Singapore Will Face Fines, Prison Sentences Under New Law (cnn.com) 55

Posted by EditorDavid from the reasons-to-stay-offline dept.
dryriver quotes CNN: Singapore's sweeping anti-fake news law, which critics warn could be used to suppress free speech in the already tightly controlled Asian city state, came into force Wednesday. Under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Bill, it is now illegal to spread "false statements of fact" under circumstances in which that information is deemed "prejudicial" to Singapore's security, public safety, "public tranquility," or to the "friendly relations of Singapore with other countries," among numerous other topics.

Government ministers can decide whether to order something deemed fake news to be taken down, or for a correction to be put up alongside it. They can also order technology companies such as Facebook and Google -- both of which opposed the bill during its fast-tracked process through parliament -- to block accounts or sites spreading false information.

The act also provides for prosecutions of individuals, who can face fines of up to 50,000 SGD (over $36,000), and, or, up to five years in prison. If the alleged falsehood is posted using "an inauthentic online account or controlled by a bot," the total potential fine rises to 100,000 SGD (around $73,000), and, or, up to 10 years in prison. Companies found guilty of spreading "fake news" can face fines of up to 1 million SGD (around $735,000).
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Fake News Posters In Singapore Will Face Fines, Prison Sentences Under New Law More

Fake News Posters In Singapore Will Face Fines, Prison Sentences Under New Law

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  • Minitrue (Score:3)

    by EnsilZah ( 575600 ) <[moc.liamG] [ta] [haZlisnE]> on Saturday October 05, 2019 @03:52PM (#59273760)

    So who will determine the truthfulness of these statements, the ministry of truth?

    • Re:Minitrue (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Some Guy I Dont Know ( 6200212 ) on Saturday October 05, 2019 @04:11PM (#59273810)

      Nothing could possibly go wrong with allowing the government to decide what is and isn't true.
      And if you say otherwise, you are lying and going to jail.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mark-t ( 151149 )
      I think it merits more concern over who will determine whether the party that published it made up the story on their own, or at least if they had every reason to have known it was false before publishing it.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by rtb61 ( 674572 )

      Mate, chill. Not used that often any more but you could call these the IMHO laws, that being In My Honest Opinion, should presage any content, unless you claim to be an actual news service than using should get you restricted but for everyone else, just couch your language, coulda, shoulda, woulda, i think, it seems, i belief (wow talk about a millennia long history of false facts hidden behind those two words in many languages).

      Just don't call yourself or it the news, you should (heh, heh) be relatively sa

  • Fake News is information warfare, pure and simple and should not be considered protected speech. The US should follow suit and start locking people like Alex Jones up. Our democracy relies upon âoeinformed consentâ and these miscreants subvert that. And moreover, we should take it further by locking up politicians that knowingly lie to or otherwise mislead the public in order to win elections or sway political support

    • Re:Fake News should not be protected (Score:5, Informative)

      by Some Guy I Dont Know ( 6200212 ) on Saturday October 05, 2019 @04:10PM (#59273802)

      So when politicians like Adam Schiff claim they have PROOF that Trump "colluded" with Russia to win the election, they should be locked up?
      When they claim that a judicial nominee is a rapist, they should be locked up?
      When they declare that people will save at least $2500 a year on health insurance, they should be locked up?
      When they declare that "I did not have sex with that woman", they should be locked up?

      Or, if you are locking up internet and radio speakers, what about forum posters? When forum posters post lies like "My political opponents want an authoritarian paradise like North Korea", should they go to jail? What about when they repeat lies about corporations or Wall Street firms? Should they go to jail for that?

      • Yes they should. And I love how you donâ(TM)t mention a single fucking thing about Trump who has lies over 10,000 times since taking office and seems incapable of saying anything that is not hateful or utter BS, or the lies the Bush admin foisted upon the citizens of the US and upon the U.N. to start a fraudulent war in Iraq In fact, the entire GOP is a fraud, they call themselves âoeLincolnâ(TM)s partyâ yet anyone with a clue knows they were hijacked in the 60s when JFK and Johnson did
        • Comment removed based on user account deletion

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Cederic ( 9623 )

          And I love how you donÃ(TM)t mention a single fucking thing about Trump

          I rather feel that he didn't need to.

          But letÃ(TM)s get the next civil war out of the way first

          Ah, Apple device user wants civil war. I find this delightfully amusing.

    • Yes and the government and major news corporations engage in it.

      It's not just the Alex Jones nutjobs making propaganda and trying to swing public opinion

    • Sometimes fake news is ignorance, nothing more. Sometimes it is ambiguity, whether on purpose or accidental. For instance, some guy posts "our air is getting dirtier every year!" in an online discussion. Fake news? It really depends on what constitutes "dirt", which period of time you're looking at. NOx in the past decades in certain areas? True. Particulate matter over the past 50 years? False. And so on. Should this guy be fined or jailed? Or can't he be fined if it isn't a clear case of lying?

    • Re:Fake News should not be protected (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Dutch Gun ( 899105 ) on Saturday October 05, 2019 @04:45PM (#59273872)

      Think long and hard about what you just advocated: "I want to be able to legally lock up my political opponents for what they say."

      How about we avoid traveling down that fast path to tyranny? Because at some point, you may not agree with those in power, and then they'll declare what you to believe in violation of "the truth". It's far too dangerous a weapon to hand to the government. ANY government. Were we to pass such a law in the US, the responsibility for the enforcement of said law would initially belong to Trump's administration. Did you even consider this?

      You're envisioning using that power against those you perceive to be lying, but there's nothing that would preventing that weapon from being turned right back around on you and those you agree with. "The truth" is a difficult thing to establish. If it wasn't, we wouldn't need a legal system.

      • We really have something special in these days though, and it is not about good faith political beliefs differing, or someone using over the top rhetoric, its about pure information warfare. Itâ(TM)s about people repeating lies they have been shown evidence against, its about manipulation, its about people in the US not sharing a basic consensus reality at a fundamental level. Something is going to give.

    • Senator Elizabeth Warren claimed Michael Brown was murdered by police, but President Obama's Department of Justice determined it was justified self-defense [factcheck.org], not murder. Accusing someone of being a murderer when in fact they were not is a lie. I guess she goes to jail.

      Senator Bernie Sanders claimed that 40% of all firearms sold in the US were sold without a background check - and yet that is false [politifact.com]. I guess we should lock him up.

      Vice President Biden publicly claimed he talked to the Parkland school shootin [cnn.com]

      • Yup. We should. What's with Republicans and assuming everyone else is as hypocritical as they are?

      • You should include some Republican examples as well, otherwise people will dismiss you as partisan.

        • Although the post he is replying to doesn't state so, it's obviously a left-wing talking point to support using laws to get the opposition.

          So he is just, properly, responding to that to point out "be careful what you wish for."

    • We'll save democracy by tossing all the dissidents into the gulag!!!!

    • While I think your heart is in the right place, I also think your approach is wrong. The only reason spin doctors like Jones can actually get a foot on the ground is that people are not able to tell fact from fiction. I have taken a look at this guy to see what the fuss is about and I was kinda worried when I heard just what kind of harebrained rubbish he spouts. At first I thought he's working for the Daily Show or something like that, just with an odd spin. Then I noticed that yes, there are people who ac

    • CNN has been absolute garbage for years, BBC has been following them right off a cliff.

      The number of articles that say "X said something, it's a big deal" - and then NEVER actually mention what was said, in the article, is mind blowing. Opinion pieces should be banned from actual news sources and only put on opinion piece sites.

  • Any way to get Trump to tweet in Singapore?

  • Singaporeans needs secure, encrypted communication, and absolute passive-aggressive resistance [wikipedia.org], even if it becomes lethal.

    The rest of the world can read about their struggle in "news", and participate by sending material support. Or by denying material support, such as by boycott. Chose wisely, or suffer great peril.

    • Fuck peaceful resistance. It doesnâ(TM)t work anymore. Look st free speech zones here in the US or the deaf ears in Hong Kong in the face of millions protesting We need to return to violence and destruction â" nothing short of outright killing the elite will be taken seriously these days

  • And is the penalty for "Government" persons making "false news" death by impalement?

    Thought not. Nothing to see here, merely yet more Government Propaganda.

  • Yes, now you'll see like this. [humbletricks.com]
  • Singapore has a strong culture of self-censorship. Many of the citizens and immigrants that work there look at the countries they came from, and recognize their instability, corruption, and dysfunction, and choose to keep quiet, even when they see injustice. There is a strong feeling that a certain level of injustice is tolerable to maintain stability. By contrast, in the U.S., freedom of speech is valued as a core tenant of the entire system. In Singapore, freedom is considered a tool that can be constantl

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Baki ( 72515 )

      China also justifies any oppression with "harmony and stability". I cannot hear the two words any more, and fail to belief that minkind is so stupid as to trade in their freedom for stability. It is dicatorship of the majority and has nothing to do with democracy and respect for the individual. How short sighted can you be? If that is Singaporean culture, then I hope it goes down.

    • Singapore is in a unique situation as a city state with zero natural resources and zero farmland. Because they have no margin for error, the Singapore government sees instability as an existential threat, both to the survival of the state and to the survival of the people.

      In 1968 Lee Kuan Yew said:

      "It is sad to see how in many countries, national heroes have let their country slide down the drain to filth and squalor, corruption and degradation, where the kickback and the rake-off has become a way of life,

  • Is there ANYTHING that isn't illegal in Singapore these days?

    ...I'm asking for a friend.
  • Or just the people who actually read the fake news on the air?

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