Anti-death penalty group Transformative Justice Collective barred from receiving financial benefits under POFMA for 2 years

Anti-death penalty group Transformative Justice Collective (TJC) has been barred from collecting financial benefits from their website and social media pages for a period of 2 years until Dec. 20, 2026, 12pm, as it has been declared a "Declared Online Location" (DOL) under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA).

In a statement released on Dec. 20, 2024, the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) said TJC does not have to cease operations, but each of TJC’s online platforms must carry "a notice to alert viewers that it has been declared as a DOL, that it had communicated multiple falsehoods, and that viewers should exercise caution when accessing it for information".

TJC may apply to the Minister for Digital Development and Information to suspend, vary or cancel the declaration. If the minister refuses the application, an appeal can be made to the High Court, according to the statement.

Five POFMA correction directions from August to December 2024

From August to December 2024, TJC received five POFMA correction directions regarding the government's treatment of prisoners awaiting capital punishment and related issues.

MDDI said that TJC and its online platforms, namely its website, Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok, have each met the requirements under POFMA to be declared as a DOL.

According to MDDI, each of TJC 's platforms has carried at least three false statements of fact that are subject to active POFMA correction directions and were within six months before Dec. 20, 2024.

MDDI said that service providers such as digital advertising agencies and digital advertising intermediaries must take reasonable steps to ensure that paid content they include or cause to be included on TJC’s online platforms is not communicated in Singapore on these platforms.

Individuals and companies must also not provide financial support to TJC’s online platforms if they know or have reason to believe that by doing so, they will promote the communication of falsehoods in Singapore on these platforms.

"Members of the public are advised to be alert to TJC’s history of communicating falsehoods on TJC’s online platforms, and to fact-check information published on these online locations," MDDI noted.

Besides TJC, three other operators' and personalities' websites and multiple social media pages have been declared DOLs: The Online Citizen Asia, Gutzy Asia and Reform Party chief Kenneth Jeyaretnam.

MDDI said the declarations are issued to "prevent operators of DOLs from profiting from the communication of falsehoods in Singapore".

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Top image from TJC/Website and MDDI