Singapore's ruling government has issued correction notices against an opposition political group over three posts it deems to contain false statements. While the opposition party has complied with the orders, it has indicated plans to challenge the directive.
The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) said on its Facebook page that it had to comply with the order, which was directed under the country's Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA), but would be applying to cancel the correction directions. Pointing to its previous statement on the issue, the opposition party noted that the conclusions derived by Manpower Minister Josephine Teo were "disputable".
The POFMA office on Saturday said[1] it was instructed by Teo to issue three correction directions to the SDP regarding statements the latter had made in two Facebook posts and its website. The direction orders meant the full correction notice must be posted at the top of both Facebook posts as well as the website page.
This marked the second time POFMA been used against the government's political opponents since the legislation came into effect in October.
A correction directive last month was issued to opposition politician Brad Bowyer[2], over a Facebook post he published alleging, amongst others, that the government was involved in decisions made by state-owned investment firms. He, too, complied with the correction notice, but called for more transparency and accountability in determining what constituted as false statements.
In its correction direction to the SDP, the POFMA Office said the posts in question had depicted plunging local PMET employment in Singapore. This was wrong, the government office said, adding that the Manpower Ministry's survey had indicated rising employment in the segment since 2015.
It also disputed the SDP's observation that retrenchments amongst local PMETs had increased, saying that this