Fake News Posters In Singapore Will Face Fines, Prison Sentences Under New Law (cnn.com) 55
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).
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).
Minitrue (Score:3)
So who will determine the truthfulness of these statements, the ministry of truth?
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You mean, obvious to everyone except everyone, including Ukraine, that has so far actually investigated the issues and found no wrong-doing.
Re: Minitrue (Score:2)
Re: Minitrue (Score:5, Insightful)
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Asking someone from another country to take an action which has a directly obvious potential to impact the results of an upcoming election in some way is not conceptually any different than allowing people who are not citizens the freedom to vote.
It's quite different, it's far worse. Asking citizens from another country to vote in your own election is bad, but at the very least still allows average people to take part in the levers of power. But when leaders of two countries conspire to help incumbents stay in power, it allows the leaders to subvert democratic control in both countries.
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I was not meaning to compare their severity or magnitude, only that at their core, they ultimately amount to the same thing.
I find it exceptionally ironic that a president who would proudly admit to asking a foreign agent for assistance in an upcoming election because he believes there is nothing wrong with it would have so much of a concern about undocumented immigrants that are involved in a supposedly massive voter fraud.
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Well, except that foreigners voting in US elections is illegal, and speech isn't.
If speech by foreigners is a terrible thing, then what the hell do you do when a foreign politician endorses a candidate... like when Obama endorsed Macron or Merkel? Should France have sent police to arrest Obama when he entered the EU? Should they have declared war on the US?
What about when Mexican politicians speak up against a candidate that opposes their nation's interests? War? Assassination?
Should the Ukraine have sh
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Ignore them. To acknowledge it in any way is to diminish the nation's own sovereignty and right to determine its own destiny.
Singapore is going too far in the wrong direction (Score:2)
Are you that incapable of knowing when people are lying? Oh wait, let me guess you voted for Trump and eat the pile of lies and bullshit he constantly spews right on up
Mostly countering the troll mods (by making your reply visible again), even though I think your reply was flawed and rather ad hominem. I think you [i0ungeb0y] should not have addressed it to "you" [EnsilZah], but rather to "anyone", because there is such a thing as truth and it is often possible to assess whether a particular statement is true or false, even if you believe that he [EnsilZah] is incapable of performing such assessments.
Having said that, I think the Singapore approach is basically misdirecte
Re:Minitrue (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
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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 should not be protected (Score:1, Flamebait)
Re:Fake News should not be protected (Score:5, Informative)
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?
Re: Fake News should not be protected (Score:2, Troll)
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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.
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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
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Re:Fake News should not be protected (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Re: Fake News should not be protected (Score:2)
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.
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And the correct response is still more speech, not granting government one of the powers tyrants covet.
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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]
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You should include some Republican examples as well, otherwise people will dismiss you as partisan.
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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."
Re: Fake News should not be protected (Score:2)
We'll save democracy by tossing all the dissidents into the gulag!!!!
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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
So when will CNN be shutting down there ? (Score:3, Funny)
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=cnn+... [duckduckgo.com]
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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.
Lightbulb over head (Score:1)
Any way to get Trump to tweet in Singapore?
Singaporeans don't need "news" (Score:2)
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.
Re: Singaporeans don't need "news" (Score:2)
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What exactly is "the elite"? I keep hearing this, but so far nobody offered a sensible definition.
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"The Elite": Any person with political power who disagrees with the speaker/writer....
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Ah, now it starts to make sense.
No... it doesn't really. But it explains a lot.
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They're all variants of demonizing your enemies. Nothing new here, move along folks.
Penalty for Government? (Score:2)
And is the penalty for "Government" persons making "false news" death by impalement?
Thought not. Nothing to see here, merely yet more Government Propaganda.
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Depends only on how hard you can throw that stake.
The world is changed (Score:1)
Singaporean Culture (Score:2)
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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.
Re: Singaporean Culture (Score:2)
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,
I have a question. (Score:2)
...I'm asking for a friend.
is that everyone on CNN? (Score:2)