Shanmugam slams Facebook post by NUS Atheist Society suggesting using holy books as toilet paper

Police are investigating.

Belmont Lay | March 20, 2020, 03:56 PM

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Law and home affairs minister K Shanmugam has taken to Facebook on March 20 to slam a post deemed offensive to Muslims and Christians in Singapore:

The post was put up by Facebook page, NUS Atheist Society.

It showed the Koran and Holy Bible with the caption, "For use during toilet paper shortages".

Shanmugam wrote: "We take a serious view of these type of statements. Police are investigating."

He also wrote that the police and the Info-communications Media Development Authority have asked Facebook to disable access to the offensive post in Singapore.

Shanmugam added: "We highlighted how such offensive remarks have no place in multi-racial and multi-religious Singapore. FB looked at it and has disabled access to the post."

The post can no longer be seen by users in Singapore, a check on the NUS Atheist Society page showed.

Prior to Shanmugam's post, the NUS Atheist Society put up a screen shot of a Facebook notification:

It showed the Facebook notification stating that the distribution of the post with the holy books has been curtailed.

The notification said: "Due to legal restrictions, we've limited access to your photo in Singapore."

NUS Atheist Society wrote in response to the curtailment: "Thanks for convicting us of thoughtcrime. Therefore, please use these discreetly during times of toilet paper crisis."

The NUS Atheist Society page was created in December 2015 and has amassed about 1,000 followers.

MHA also issued a statement about the Facebook post:

A number of complaints have been received about a post made by the Facebook page “NUS Atheist Society”, depicting the Bible and the Koran as alternatives to be used in the event of toilet paper shortages.

The Ministry of Home Affairs and the Police take these sorts of statements very seriously. We have asked Facebook to disable access to the religiously offensive post, highlighting the importance of racial and religious harmony in our society, and they have agreed to do so.

The Police are investigating the matter further, and would like to remind members of the public to be mindful when participating in online discussions, and not post any remarks which are prejudicial to the maintenance of racial and religious harmony in Singapore. Online hate speech on race and religion has no place in Singapore.