Singapore Responsible postings in social media platforms
87% of the respondents to this survey said that the government should control the spread of hate speech, terrorism and misinformation through the social media. Only 13% said that there should be no control on "freedom of speech".

How can this control be carried out?

The first control should be to require all views to be posted by an identified person. No view should be posted with a fake or anonymous identity.

This restriction should apply to the designated platforms which are available for access to the public - such as Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Instagram, Tik Tot and similar platforms. 

The user who wish to create posts or give comments should register a user ID that is authenticated to that person. This approved ID should be used for all postings. 

This person is responsible for all posts made under his ID, whether by himself or another person using his ID.

There will be instances where a hacker can hijack the ID of another person. The rightful owner should recover the ID immediately.

There is also the need to restrict the sharing of postings as the intermediary may not be aware that the original posting may contain deliberate or unintended misinformation or defamation.

There is also a need to distinguish between opinions, unintended or deliberate misinformation. This may be handled by the approval authority who has the power to suspend the user ID or to impose a financial penalty.

These restrictions will certainly reduce the volume of traffic on social media. This outcome is probably desirable as the social media platform now contains too much views, of which a large part is useless or harmful.

I am in favor of a social media environment which is more controlled and more credible. It will lead to a more responsible citizenry.

Tan Kin Lian
 

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