Alleged social media 'advisory' is a hoax: PAP MP

Chua Chu Kang Member of Parliament Zaqy Mohamed has come out to clarify that a recent Facebook note alleging that the People’s Action Party had issued a “social media protocol” was false and “posted by impersonators”.

“We wish to clarify that no such note was issued and that there is no truth in its contents,” said Zaqy in response to a query from Yahoo! Singapore.

The note in question was first posted by Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) member Patrick Lee Song Juan on his Facebook page.

In the note, Lee claims to have heard “from the horse mouth (sic)” about a new “PAP directive” issued to its supporters.

This “directive” allegedly informed the PAP ministers, MPs, activists and volunteers that with effect from 1 April 2013, they were advised to refrain from engaging with netizens on social media “without HQ approval”.

It went on to say that while status updates, photo sharing and information about ministry activities would still be encouraged, party members were “highly discouraged” from responding to any negative or positive online comments in a personal capacity or otherwise.

Finally, the note claimed that MPs Hri Kumar, Janil Puthucheary, Zaqy Mohamed, Tin Peiling and Vikram Nair would form a “Committee of Media Relations” and should be contacted by e-mail, phone, or text message if any party member encountered abusive, defamatory, or highly negative media content.

It said that this Committee would then pursue “legal action escalation” through the “Committee of Legal Procedures”.