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The Ministry of Health (MOH) has instructed the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) Office to issue a correction direction to Wake Up Singapore (WUSG).

The allegations

On Mar. 23, 2022, WUSG uploaded a post on its Instagram and Facebook pages about a woman who claimed suffered a miscarriage after waiting four hours to see a doctor at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital's (KKH) A&E department in February 2022.

Two days later, WUSG said that the the woman had lied about the incident. WUSG also apologised to KKH for publishing the falsehoods.

KKH then lodged a police report on Mar. 25.

The facts

In a press release on Mar. 27, MOH confirmed that the allegations made against KKH are false.

According to MOH, KKH had identified the patient in question based on a screenshot of a hospital bill accompanying WUSG’s posts, which contained discrepancies with the patient’s account of events.

Subsequent investigations by KKH have confirmed that the patient had been seen by a doctor within an hour of her arrival at KKH in February 2022, and did not suffer any miscarriage.

POFMA correction order issued

Notwithstanding WUSG’s apology, MOH said that the allegations are "serious and have been circulated to various other platforms."

"This could lead to the erosion of public trust in the credibility and professionalism of our healthcare system and institutions," the ministry added.

Thus, to ensure that the public is provided with the full facts, a POFMA correction order has been issued to WUSG.

WUSG will be required to publish the correction notices as specified by the POFMA Office for each webpage and social media post containing the falsehoods.

Members of the public can refer to this page for facts relating to the case.

"The government takes a serious view of these falsehoods, which appear to have been fabricated. The matter has been referred to the relevant authorities for investigation," MOH said.

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Top images via Wake Up Singapore's Facebook page.