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Yahoo Poll: Should the Singapore government be granted broader powers to combat fake news?

The Select Committee on Deliberate Online Falsehoods announcing its recommendations on tackling fake news on 20 September 2018 (Photo: Dhany Osman/Yahoo News Singapore)
The Select Committee on Deliberate Online Falsehoods announcing its recommendations on tackling fake news on 20 September 2018 (Photo: Dhany Osman/Yahoo News Singapore)

The Select Committee on Deliberate Online Falsehoods announced on Thursday (20 September) the 22 recommendations it made to the Singapore government on how to tackle the threat of fake news.

The wide-ranging and at times vaguely worded list of recommendations included giving the government “the powers to swiftly disrupt the spread and influence of online falsehoods”.

The report was issued after considering hundreds of opinions as well as a seven-week public consultation. However, human rights groups criticised the recommendations, with a Human Rights Watch rep accusing the government of having “a very biased idea of what is a ‘falsehood’“, and Reporters Without Borders saying the proposed powers would be used as an excuse for censorship.

What is your view? Should the government be given expanded powers or not? Have your say in our poll and leave a comment below.

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