Ministry of Law How can POFMA be improved?
I wish to suggest what is wrong with the fake news law or POFMA and what can be done to improve it.

First, here are the features that are wrong:

a) The law targets the wrong activities. It is not falsehood that is wrong, but hate news. 

b) The actors are not necessary the anti-establishment people; even the establishment people can engage in hate news. 

c)  The law creates a new set of people, i.e. the ministers, who are given the power to act on the falsehood. This power is normally reserved for the judiciary.

Let me make my comments about falsehoods, which are targeted by POFMA. 

It is often difficult to differentiate between falsehood, mistake and opinion. If I receive a post which I believe to be true, I may share it even though it turns out to be false. This is a mistake, and does not reflect malice. 

The minister of law said that the intent of POFMA is to stop the creation of deliberate falsehoods, but does not extend to cover satire or humor. It is difficult to make this distinction.

The real target of the law should be to stop the creation and sharing of "hate news". These are online posts, including truth, that are intended to create distress to an individual or ill feeling among a religious, racial or social group. 

There is already a law covering harassment. This law can be extended to cover the harm caused by online posts.

CHANGES NEEDED

Here are the changes that are needed:

a) Change POFMA to target "hate news" rather than "deliberate falsehood"

b) Let the court decide on the offense and the appropriate penalty, including a warning, fine or jail sentence.
 
The court now deals with minor and major offenses, including vandalism, public disturbance and personal harassment. They will be able to handle the "hate news" in an appropriately.

c) Provide clarity to the court on how to deal with this new category of offensive acts, including orders issued to online platforms that are responsible for aggravating the offense.

d) Make it easy for individuals to apply to the court for sanction against an alleged offender for causing distress and harassment through online posts.

I hope that these suggestions are helpful for the next review of the law. 

Tan Kin Lian

Vote - do you agree with my suggestion?



 

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