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The Independent Singapore (TISG) and one of its contributors, Toh Han Shih, have been handed Correction Direction notices from the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) Office, at the direction of Law Minister K Shanmugam.

This relates to an Apr. 21 article published on TISG's website, titled "K Shanmugam says he may step down as Singapore’s Minister of Law and Home Affairs".

The article was also shared on TISG's Facebook and Twitter accounts, and on Toh's personal Twitter account.

According to Factually, a government fact-checking site, this headline is "clickbait, giving the false impression that the Minister for Law and Home Affairs said he may be stepping down from his ministerial positions."

Clarification required

The article's byline states that the piece is from Toh, who according to TISG, is the chief analyst of Headland Intelligence, a Hong Kong risk consulting firm.

The Correction Directions require recipients to publish a notice on the platforms where the original posts appeared, with a link to the Government’s clarification.

Interview with Vanakkam Malaysia

Shanmugam was interviewed by Vanakkam Malaysia, a Tamil news site in Malaysia, and the video was uploaded on YouTube on Apr. 13.

In TISG's article, the first paragraph said that Shanmugam had supposedly revealed in the interview that "he may step down as a minister, but gave no specific time as to when he might do so."

"This again gave the false impression that the Minister said he may be stepping down from his ministerial positions," according to a press release from the Ministry of Law. It added:

"The Minister for Law has instructed for Correction Directions, under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA), to be issued to TISG and Mr Toh.

TISG and Mr Toh will be required to carry correction notices on their online platforms that published the article, stating that it contains a false statement of fact."

What was said

The interviewer asked Shanmugam, "Have you ever felt politics is not allowing you to be true to yourself and regretted about it?"

To which he reaffirmed his willingness and desire to serve Singapore, Factually stated.

Shanmugam's response is as follows:

"... I consider serving people as a privilege. Not everyone will get the chance. … I am here as a minister because of people’s support and love. The moment when there is no support, I must be ready to leave. … When there are capable leaders to replace me then I should be ready to move on too. Only then will the country progress.

… I have maintained transparency in both my words and actions. I clearly tell the public what are the challenges and what do we need to do to overcome them. I will continue to do that. The moment when I feel I can’t keep to that anymore, I will leave my ministerial posts."

Factually also said:

"It is quite false to state that the Minister had said that he may be stepping down from his Ministerial posts. In addition, viewing the whole video will show that the Minister, when he spoke about his own views, also intended his comments to be of general application, for persons holding Ministerial appointments (when seen in the context of past comments of the PAP leadership, and history of the PAP)."

Top image from Vanakkam Malaysia.

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