Singapore invokes fake news law over opposition party posts

Singapore's government invoked a fake news law on Saturday to order an opposition party to publish corrections on two social media posts and an article on its website about local employment, an official statement showed.

It is the third time that authorities have used the law, called the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA), since it came into effect about two months ago. But it is the first time it has been used against a political party.

The government ordered the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) to issue corrections to a sponsored Facebook post, another post on its page on the social network as well as an article on its website about the city-state's job market. The article said a rising proportion of local professionals, managers, executives and technicians (known as PMETs) were losing their jobs.

That was disputed by the Manpower Ministry, which said the employment of PMETs had been rising steadily since 2015. Ordering the corrections, the government statement said the posts and the article will need to carry a notice that says they "contain a misleading graphic and false statement of facts."