Singaporean Government Creates Fake News To Push Fake News Legislation

Singaporean Government Creates Fake News To Push Fake News Legislation

6 years ago
Anonymous $CLwNLde341

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20180414/10532239627/singaporean-government-creates-fake-news-to-push-fake-news-legislation.shtml

The government of Singapore is working its way towards regulating "fake news." This is already a problem, as no government that has tackled this issue has been able to define what "fake news" is, other than news the government doesn't like. A government granting itself the power to unilaterally remove competing narratives is something that never goes out of style, and those picking up the "fake news" torch from the Twitter feed of the leader of the free world tend to be of the authoritarian variety.

The government's "Select Committee on Deliberate Online Falsehoods" sought input from citizens on the proposed legislation. Then it recast that input by memorializing it in a way that downplayed, if not excised completely, any input that didn't align with the government's views.