SINGAPORE — Facebook has issued a correction notice for a States Times Review Facebook post in a first for the platform, after it was instructed to do so on Friday (Nov 29) by the office overseeing the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act.

On Saturday, the notice could be seen at the bottom of the original post.

"Facebook is legally required to tell you that the Singapore government says this post has false information," the notice said.

A Facebook spokesperson told CNA that the company, as required by Singapore law, applied a label to these posts.

"As it is early days of the law coming into effect, we hope the Singapore Government’s assurances that it will not impact free expression will lead to a measured and transparent approach to implementation,” the spokesperson said.

Facebook's action comes after the States Times Review was ordered to correct the Facebook post but failed to comply.

This was the second correction direction handed out under Singapore’s online falsehoods law.

The post alleged that a “whistleblower who exposed a People’s Action Party (PAP) candidate’s Christian affiliations” has been arrested and that the owner of the NUSSU – NUS Students United Facebook page, which published the claims about the PAP candidate, is under police investigation.

“These claims are false and baseless,” said the Ministry of Home Affairs on Thursday. “No one has been arrested or charged arising from the NSU post.”

The correction direction under the new law was issued to Mr Alex Tan Zhi Xiang, a 32-year-old Singaporean who runs the States Times Review website and Facebook page.

A post on the page on Thursday morning said that States Times Review and its editor "will not comply with any order from a foreign government". CNA

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