SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) must establish itself as the authoritative source of information on Singapore’s foreign policy to mitigate the risks of Singaporeans being distracted, divided and deceived by fake news and online falsehoods, the ministry said on Friday (Mar 1).
Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs Tan Wu Meng said in his Committee of Supply debate speech that the ministry has enhanced its public engagement through social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Telegram and WhatsApp, to establish MFA as an essential source for the public to verify facts and news.
AdvertisementMFA has also been stepping up its outreach to Singaporeans, including students, to explain the fundamental principles of Singapore’s foreign policy and its vulnerabilities as a small country, he said.
“Singapore’s foreign policy can only be successful with the support and understanding of Singaporeans,” Dr Tan said in Parliament. He added that Singapore’s foreign policy is ultimately centred on serving the interests of Singapore and Singaporeans buttressing domestic resilience.
[h=3]READ: Select Committee on deliberate online falsehoods report: What you need to know[/h]His comments come as Singapore is working to enact new laws to stem the spread of online misinformation. Draft legislation for such laws could be tabled by the first half of 2019.
AdvertisementAdvertisementSuch legislation was one of the recommendations by a Select Committee set up in January 2018 to study deliberate online falsehoods. The committee released 22 recommendations in a 279-page report in September last year.
SPREAD OF ONLINE FALSEHOODS SERIOUS GLOBAL PROBLEM
The committee had sought the views of industry players and the public through 170 written representations, as well as oral representations from 65 individuals and organisations during the eight-day public hearings in March last year.
The committee said that the response must be “multi-pronged”, such as addressing the capacity of people’s ability to discern falsehoods as well as supporting journalists and fact-checkers in their work. It should also look into supporting the wider digital ecosystem, particularly the role of technology companies, the committee added.
In moving the motion for the appointment of the committee last year, Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam had said the deliberate spread of online falsehoods is a serious problem around the world today, and that Singapore is susceptible because there is high Internet penetration here with 91 per cent of households having Web access.
It is therefore easy to attack and spread falsehoods online, he said.
Mr Shanmugam had also highlighted the country's multiracial and multi-religious society as another reason given that these are "fault lines" that can be easily exploited by falsehoods. He cited, as an example, the June 2017 incident when false rumours were spread via Facebook and WhatsApp of cat and dog meat sold at Geylang Serai Bazaar.
Wrapping up his speech on Friday, Dr Tan said: “Uncertainty will remain a common feature of the international landscape, but MFA will continue to seek out opportunities to advance the interests of Singapore and our fellow Singaporeans.”
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