A 58-year-old man was issued a 24-month conditional warning for communicating false statements of fact on TikTok and for failing to comply with correction directions issued under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA).

Published videos containing falsehoods in 2023

Between July and August 2023, the man published four TikTok videos that contained falsehoods relating to voting secrecy, Central Provident Fund (CPF) policies, and Housing and Development Board (HDB) affordability, said the POFMA office in a Jul. 31 media statement.

Investigations subsequently revealed, amongst other things, that the falsehood on voting secrecy was "based on hearsay", and there was no supporting evidence for the man's claims.

He also failed to consult publicly available information on the CPF Board and Ministry of Manpower (MOM) websites before posting the falsehoods pertaining to CPF policies and HDB affordability, the statement read.

The POFMA office did not disclose the man's nationality, his TikTok account, or his claims in the media statement.

Failed to comply with correction directions fully

For communicating the falsehoods, the POFMA office issued the man correction directions, which required him to place a notice "akin to a right of reply" next to his original post with a link to the Singapore government's clarification.

However, the man "failed to comply fully", including not putting up the required correction notices by the stipulated deadline, said POFMA office.

He also changed his TikTok account handle, which made the correction notices "inaccessible to viewers".

May face prosecution if he reoffends during 24-month period

For his offences above, the man was handed a two-year condition warning by the POFMA office "after careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case".

"If he reoffends during this period, he could be prosecuted for the original crime," added the POFMA office.

For every count of communicating false statements in Singapore, the man could be fined up to S$50,000, jailed for up to five years, or both.

For every count of failing to comply with correction directions, he could be fined up to S$20,000, jailed for up to one year, or both.

Top image via Canva