Legislation is an essential part for Singapore to address the issue of social media and technology as a medium of hate speech and fake news, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his speech at the 29th Inter-Pacific Bar Association conference.

“While public education is the first line of defence, legislation is an essential part of the answer, as even (Facebook’s founder) Mark Zuckerberg has acknowledged,” said Mr Lee.

The proposed Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Bill (POFMA), which will have a second reading in May, will hold online platforms accountable and empower Government to issue correction orders.

In his speech, Mr Lee had also touched on two other broad trends that have required a rethinking of laws – firstly, the need to craft laws to prevent terrorism and radical incitement based on the intent to do harm; and the other, the need to consider how taxes should apply to online transactions as e-commerce grows.

Mr Lee emphasised that even as ‘a system of rule of law is a common thread that runs through almost every modern society,’ the basic premise is that society is governed by impartial, objective laws.

Photo from PM Lee’s Facebook post