The Media Literacy Council (MLC) took down a Facebook post with a graphic that received flak from Singaporeans for listing satire and clickbait as "fake news".

In addition, the agency apologised for the "confusion" caused, and promised to review its material.

Post gave "wrong impression"

In a status update published on Sunday (Sep. 8) evening, the MLC, which works with "industry, community, and government" to promote "an astute and responsible digital citizenship", acknowledged that both the post and infographic "gave the wrong impression that satire was fake news, which was not the intent".

MLC also further clarified that the post was intended to "raise awareness among youths and the general public about the need to be aware of the ways in which misinformation or fake news can be spread".

In addition, the post was meant to "encourage readers to understand the context in which information is presented".

Similar to previous clarification

Previously, the agency also sought to clarify what it meant to say after its original post was flooded with comments calling it out for fake news.

In its reply to one of the comments that pointed out that the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) does not extend to opinions, criticisms, satire or parody, MLC gave a similar explanation to this most recent statement.

The examples in the post, it said, "represent other possible scenarios in which Fake News can be spread, such as through clickbait articles that make exaggerated claims, or instances of people being fooled by a satirical article in which the irony or humour is not readily apparent”.

Not entirely convinced?

However, commenters appear to have remained unimpressed at MLC's second attempt at clearing things up.

In particular, local poet Joshua Ip said it "did not merely give the wrong impression", and that in making the mistake of listing satire as fake news, it "propagated fake news and misinformation".

He flagged other instances where it was suggested that satire can constitute fake news, which can still be found on the MLC's website.

You can read more about the original post here:

Top image adapted via Media Literacy Council