POFMA order issued to Facebook for post which falsely claimed that 3-year-old died from Covid-19

MOH has also urged the public not to spread unsubstantiated information which may cause public alarm.

Fasiha Nazren | August 15, 2021, 06:20 PM

The Ministry of Health (MOH) has clarified that the allegations made a Facebook user Eileen Loh, who claimed that a three-year-old had died from Covid-19 at KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH), are "completely untrue" and "a total fabrication".

MOH added that there has been no case of any child that has died from Covid-19 at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH) or any other hospital in Singapore, as of Aug. 14.

Ho Ching, CEO of Temasek Holdings and wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, also addressed the false allegations in a Facebook post yesterday.

In the comments section of the now-unavailable Facebook post, Loh said that if she was spreading fake news, MOH should "take down the post and sue [her]".

Facebook required to carry the correction notice to all end users.

In a statement from MOH on Aug. 15, the ministry said that the health minister Ong Ye Kung has instructed the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) office to issue a General Correction Direction to Facebook.

For the uninitiated, a General Correction Direction is a Direction issued to prescribed Internet Intermediaries, prescribed telecom and broadcast licensees, and/or prescribed permit holders of the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act that would require them to communicate, publish, broadcast or transmit a correction notice to their users in Singapore.

As such, Facebook is required to carry the Correction Notice to all end-users in Singapore who use Facebook.

No Delta Variant in Singapore Covid-19 cases

MOH also further clarified that it has not identified the "Delta Plus" variant in any of Singapore's known Covid-19 cases, contrary to Loh's claim that the variant is present in Singapore.

More facts on the case are available here.

MOH has also urged the public not to spread unsubstantiated information which may cause public alarm.

Top image via MOH and Facebook.