Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act 2019

Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act 2019
Parliament of Singapore
  • An Act to prevent the electronic communication in Singapore of false statements of fact, to suppress support for and counteract the effects of such communication, to safeguard against the use of online accounts for such communication and for information manipulation, to enable measures to be taken to enhance transparency of online political advertisements, and for related matters.
CitationAct 18 of 2019
Considered byParliament of Singapore
Passed byPresident Halimah Yacob
Passed8 May 2019
Enacted3 June 2019
Commenced2 October 2019
Legislative history
Bill titleProtection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Bill
Bill citationBill 10 of 2019
Introduced byMr Edwin Tong Chun Fai (Senior Minister of State for Law)
Introduced1 April 2019
First reading1 April 2019[1]
Second reading8 May 2019[1]
Third reading8 May 2019[1]
Committee reportReport of the Select Committee on Deliberate Online Falsehood
Status: In force

The Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act 2019, commonly abbreviated as POFMA and known colloquially as Fake News Law,[2] is a statute of the Parliament of Singapore that enables authorities to tackle the spread of fake news or false information.

The law is designed specifically to allow authorities to respond to fake news or false information through a graduated process of enforcing links to fact-checking statements, censorship of website or assets on social media platforms, and criminal charges.[3] While the law has existed in similar capacities in various other countries, it received criticism by some opposition politicians, human rights groups, journalists and academics.[4]

  1. ^ a b c "Where is the missing subsidiary legislation to POFMA that the Law Minister has mentioned?". The Online Citizen. 4 July 2019. Archived from the original on 9 June 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  2. ^ Westerman, Ashley (2 October 2019). "'Fake News' Law Goes Into Effect In Singapore, Worrying Free Speech Advocates". NPR.org. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  3. ^ "POFMA encourages democracy, does not disadvantage opposition: Shanmugam on upcoming General Election". CNA. Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  4. ^ "Singapore controversial 'fake news' law goes into effect". Al Jazeera. 2 October 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2011.