Shanmugam rejects SDP’s appeal to change Pofma directive

An appeal by the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) against a correction order for statements it had made in June 2024 has been rejected by Minister for Home Affairs and Law K. Shanmugam, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in a statement on April 11.

MHA’s statement came after the SDP said on April 8 that it had applied to change a June 29, 2024, correction directive issued by the Government under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma).

The Pofma order was for a statement the SDP had put up on its social media accounts on June 27 and June 28, 2024, about charges brought against three women who were allegedly involved in organising a procession without a permit along the perimeter of the Istana, which is a prohibited area.

In its statement, the SDP had said the three women – Mossammad Sobikun Nahar, 25, Siti Amirah Mohamed Asrori, 29, and Annamalai Kokila Parvathi, 35 – were prosecuted for organising support for the Palestinian people in the ongoing Gaza war. Their prosecution showed the Government’s inability to be tolerant of views and actions it disagreed with, the SDP added.

MHA had said on June 29 that the SDP’s claims were untrue, as the decision to charge the three women was not in response to the views they had expressed, or whether these views aligned with the Government’s position. SDP was also issued a correction notice on its statement.

On April 11, MHA noted that the SDP complied with the correction direction on June 29, but more than nine months later had submitted its application regarding the Pofma order accompanied by a statement that it was doing so “to clarify some key issues ahead of the General Election of 2025”.

SDP had said in a Facebook post on April 8 that if Mr Shanmugam did not vary the Pofma correction direction issued against the party, it would “take the case to the High Court”.

The party said it did not make the statement that the three women were prosecuted because they had organised support for the Palestinian people, and that it is the constitutional right of Singapore citizens to peacefully make their views known publicly.

SDP also claimed that the fake news law was “used at an unprecedented rate” during the 2020 General Election. The party said that it is critical that individuals are not penalised for statements they did not make, and that it hopes “this will become clearer through this appeal process”.

In its April 11 statement, MHA reiterated that the SDP’s statements were false, and that the three women were charged under Section 15(1) of the Public Order Act (POA) for organising a procession in the vicinity of the Istana.

“The Istana is a prohibited area designated under Section 12 of the POA and the Public Order (Prohibited Areas) Order. Processions are not allowed in such places,” it said.

MHA said SDP had appealed to vary the correction direction on the basis that the party’s posts did not contain the statement that the three women were prosecuted for organising support for a cause.

It noted that the SDP did not appeal against the second part of the correction direction, regarding the false statement that the three women had been prosecuted because they had expressed views that the Government did not agree with.

This appears to suggest that the SDP agreed that the statement it made was false, said the ministry.

“Having carefully considered the application, the Minister for Home Affairs and for Law has assessed that there is no merit to the application, and has rejected it,” it added.

Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

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