Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act 2019 | |
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Parliament of Singapore | |
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Citation | Act 18 of 2019 |
Considered by | Parliament of Singapore |
Passed by | President Halimah Yacob |
Passed | 8 May 2019 |
Enacted | 3 June 2019 |
Commenced | 2 October 2019 |
Legislative history | |
Bill title | Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Bill |
Bill citation | Bill 10 of 2019 |
Introduced by | Mr Edwin Tong Chun Fai (Senior Minister of State for Law) |
Introduced | 1 April 2019 |
First reading | 1 April 2019[1] |
Second reading | 8 May 2019[1] |
Third reading | 8 May 2019[1] |
Committee report | Report 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]