By Jake Maxwell Watts and Newley Purnell
SINGAPORE -- Tech giants such as Facebook Inc., Alphabet Inc.'s
Google and Twitter Inc. would be required under a draft law
introduced Monday in Singapore to immediately issue corrections of
false information published on their platforms and inform users
when they might have been exposed to inaccuracies.
The legislation is some of the most potentially sweeping
anywhere against so-called "fake news" and would set a precedent
for the global issue, which has seen a backlash against social
media. Facebook, Twitter and Google all have their Asia-Pacific
headquarters in Singapore, a wealthy nation of just 5.6 million
people dominated by a single political party that critics say has
used legislation to stifle political opposition, which it
denies.
The legislation requires social-media companies to circulate
corrections if content posted on their platforms is deemed by the
government to be false and able to harm the public interest in
Singapore. In some cases this would be required even if the
offending content didn't originally appear on their platforms, and
could apply to traditional media as well.
Singapore is one of only a few countries that have introduced
legislation to tackle fake news, but governments around the world
are grappling with growth in manipulated or false viral content
that they say can divide communities, manipulate elections and
incite violence.
In India, more than 20 people were killed last year by mob
violence following false rumors spread on Facebook's WhatsApp
messaging service. In countries including the U.S., false
information on social media has been linked to foreign election
interference.
The Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Bill was
introduced Monday for a first reading in Parliament. It is expected
to be debated and put to a vote in the coming weeks.
Singapore officials say tech companies must take responsibility
for content published on their platforms and will face possible
fines for noncompliance. "Essentially you have to take a policy
viewpoint as to whether anyone can be allowed, in pursuit of
profit, to damage your country," said K. Shanmugam, Singapore's law
minister. "I think as a government, we owe a duty to our citizens
to make sure that we protect our society."
Facebook said late Monday that it shares a commitment to reduce
the spread of false information but is concerned with aspects of
the law that give the government broad powers to compel it to
remove content. Google said it will study the bill and urged the
government to allow for a full and transparent public consultation
on the legislation. Twitter said it recognizes the importance of
the topic and will assess the implications of the law.
The Asia Internet Coalition, an industry group that comprises
the big tech companies, said it supports the government's goals of
protecting social harmony but is concerned that the Singapore
government would have discretion over what is true and what is
false. "This level of overreach poses significant risks to freedom
of expression and speech, and could have severe ramifications both
in Singapore and around the world," it said.
Tech companies might need to build new software to comply with
Singapore's law, and if other countries took differing approaches
the companies could be faced with a complex global environment for
compliance.
The Singapore legislation comes after two challenging years for
Facebook. The world's biggest social-media network has been
criticized for not doing enough to stop foreign interference in the
2016 U.S. presidential election, failing to safeguard users' data,
and not sufficiently tamping down hate speech on its platform.
Last month, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said the company
would be moving toward more private, messaging-based products and,
in an op-ed published Saturday on the websites of the Washington
Post and Ireland's Independent, called for global regulators to
take a "more active role" in governing the internet.
Where countries have enacted legislation, most have focused on
content that breaks existing hate-speech laws rather than that
deemed to be false. Last year, France passed a law to empower
judges to remove false content during election campaigns, and
Germany introduced legislation that imposes prison sentences and
fines for failure to remove hate speech.
Officials in Singapore say its relatively small size and diverse
racial and religious mix -- the island nation is predominantly
ethnic Chinese with significant ethnic Indian and Malay minorities,
and is a hub for expatriate workers -- make it vulnerable to false
information intended to inflame tensions. In one example cited by
officials, a news website that has since been closed posted false
content about a Filipino family making a police complaint about a
Hindu festival that incited racial resentment and xenophobia.
In addition to corrections, the proposed law states that any
individual who spreads an online falsehood with an intent to harm
the public interest could be fined up to S$50,000 ($36,930) and
imprisoned for up to five years. Fines are also specified for
anyone who makes bots or offers commercial services to spread
falsehoods. The law allows authorities to order the removal of
false content.
Tech companies found not complying with binding codes of
practice could be fined up to S$1 million and, in the case of a
continuing offense, S$100,000 for every day it continues. Any
parties disputing a government-issued correction could appeal to
the courts.
Singapore is often lauded as an Asian economic powerhouse, but
it faces sustained criticism from human-rights groups who say the
ruling People's Action Party, which has been in power since the
country became independent in 1965, has used its position to muzzle
local media and stifle political opponents with defamation suits.
"Freedom of expression also involves freedom of opinion, and the
government has a sorry track record of respecting both," said Phil
Robertson, Asia deputy director at Human Rights Watch.
The government and the ruling party say Singapore is a
multiparty democracy and doesn't target political opponents.
Mr. Shanmugam, Singapore's law minister, dismissed questions in
a press briefing about whether determining truth could be
subjective. He said free speech would be protected because the
government would rarely move to take down content. "I think the
reality of falsehoods and hate speech and harmful content on the
internet is a reality that is here to stay," he said. "We have to
deal with it as best as we can."
Write to Jake Maxwell Watts at jake.watts@wsj.com and Newley
Purnell at newley.purnell@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 01, 2019 10:55 ET (14:55 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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