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Anti-death penalty group Transformative Justice Collective halts operations of DOL platforms till Dec. 2026

A DOL will not be allowed to profit from spreading falsehoods in Singapore, according to the POFMA office.

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January 22, 2025, 06:26 PM

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Transformative Justice Collective (TJC) said that it will cease operations of its main website and social media accounts till Dec. 2026, as announced in a statement on Jan. 21, 2025.

The anti-death penalty group was made a "Declared Online Location" (DOL) under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) on Dec. 20, 2024.

The declaration is in effect for two years until Dec. 20, 2026.

Required to carry notice, not allowed to receive financial or other material benefit from operating DOL

In the Dec. 2024 press release, the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) explained that each of TJC's online platforms met the criteria to be made a DOL:

  • Each of the online platforms has carried at least three different false statements of fact that are the subject of active POFMA Correction Directions.
  • At least three of these false statements of fact had first been communicated in Singapore on each of TJC’s online platforms within six months before Dec. 20, 2024.

MDDI clarified that TJC does not have to cease operations as a result of the DOL.

However, 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".

Operators of a DOL are not allowed to receive financial or other material benefit from operating the DOL, to prevent them from profiting from the communication of falsehoods in Singapore.

Service providers, such as digital advertising agencies and intermediaries, must take reasonable steps to ensure that paid content they include or cause to be included on TJC’s online platforms are 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.

Not an easy decision to make: TJC

TJC decided to temporarily cease operations of the DOL platforms until Dec. 2026.

The anti-death penalty group said it was "not an easy decision to make" and that it was made "with a very heavy heart".

It promised that it would resume use of the platforms from Jan. 2027, and urged its followers not to un-follow its account.

"Despite the significant challenges brought by temporarily ceasing operation of the DOLs, the Transformative Justice Collective will not stop fighting for a freer and more just Singapore, albeit on different platforms," TJC said.

The group received five POFMA correction directions regarding the government's treatment of prisoners awaiting capital punishment and related issues from Aug. to Dec. 2024.

Top image via TJC/Website and Facebook

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