| Here’s a fictional scenario that illustrates how the law, as currently worded, might be abused. | ||
| A former SMRT engineer reveals to a Singaporean blogger that his team had alerted superiors 10 years ago about major systemic problems in the organisation, which caused technical problems in certains sections of the metro system. He produces copies of emails documenting the engineers’ concerns and showing how these were swept under the carpet not only by SMRT management but also by LTA and MND officers. The blogger publishes a story. | ||
| Within an hour, the transport minister triggers a Stop Communication Direction. | 12. (1) A Stop Communication Direction is one issued to a person who communicated the subject statement in Singapore, requiring the person to stop communicating in Singapore the subject statement by the specified time. | Part 3 also allows a minister to trigger a Correction Direction or an Access Blocking Order. Part 4 deals with internet intermediaries and mass media. |
| (7) (b) “stop communicating”... means taking the necessary steps to ensure that the statement is no longer available on or through the internet to end-users in Singapore.... | ||
| Although the minister does not refute the thrust of the story or most of its details, he rules that there are two things about the story that are “false and misleading”: | 2. (2) In this Act - | This means that the take-down order can apply to the whole article even though only a small part of it is false or misleading. |
| “1. By saying that his ministry did not respond to the engineer’s email, the article alleges a cover-up. This is misleading because the engineers’ complaint was sent to a low-level civil servant in a department that had nothing to do with the MRT system, who simply ignored it as spam. | (b) a statement is false if it is false or misleading, whether wholly or in part, and whether on its own or in the context in which it appears. | |
| 2. The article mentions problems at Novena station, whereas the supporting documents name Newton station. ‘Novena’ is factually incorrect.” | ||
| The government does not give the blogger the opportunity to correct the article. | The government is not obliged to issue a Correction Direction before it resorts to a Stop Communication Direction. This means that journalists who would like to act in good faith may not be given the opportunity to correct errors. |