A correction direction has been issued against the alternative news website The Independent Singapore for an article in which it was reported that law minister K Shanmugam may resign from his ministerial position.
The directive was issued under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act on Friday (Apr 22). (POFMA).
The article, authored by Mr Toh Han Shih for The Independent Singapore, was headlined "K Shanmugam says he may resign as Singapore's Minister of Law and Home Affairs," the law ministry stated on Friday (Apr 22).
It was published on Thursday on The Independent Singapore's website, as well as on the publication's Facebook and Twitter pages. Mr Toh also tweeted about the article.
"The headline was clickbait, creating the misleading impression that the Minister for Law and Home Affairs was considering resigning from his ministerial positions," the ministry explained.
"Additionally, the article's initial paragraph indicated that the Minister 'revealed' in an interview with Vanakkam Malaysia that he may resign as Singapore's Minister for Law and Home Affairs, but did not provide a timeframe for doing so.
"Once again, this created the misleading impression that the Minister was considering resigning from his ministerial positions."
Mr Shanmugam has directed that both The Independent Singapore and Mr Toh be issued correction directions.
They will be forced to post correction notifications on their internet platforms where the story was published, explaining that it includes a factual inaccuracy.
Mr Toh sent a rectification notice on Twitter at 1.04pm on Friday. As of 1.30pm, The Independent Singapore's Facebook post remained in its original form, without a correction notice.
The Law Ministry explained in a news statement that Mr Shanmugam stated in the interview that he "must be prepared to resign when he loses the people's support" and "should be prepared to move on when suitable leaders replace him."
Additionally, he stated that he "has maintained openness in his words and acts and will continue to do so, and if he is unable to do so, he will resign from his ministerial positions."
"It is simply untrue to assert, based on the interview, that the Minister indicated he may resign from his posts," the ministry stated.
"Moreover, seeing the entire video demonstrates that when the Minister expressed his personal views, he intended his remarks to be applicable to all people holding Ministerial positions (when seen in the context of previous PAP leadership comments and the PAP's history)."
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