India / Singapore invokes anti misinformation law POFMA on Arvind Kejriwal claim

New Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal's statement that the new strain of Corona virus was described as 'Singapore variant' created such a ruckus that the Indian government had to be clarified in front of Singapore. After the controversy over Arvind Kejriwal's statement, Singapore on Wednesday expressed satisfaction with the cleanliness of the Indian government, but it has taken a big step to stop the dissemination of misinformation. The Singapore government has implemented the Anti-Misinformation Law, ie Protection from Online Falsehood and Manipulation Act (Protection from Online Falsehoods & Manipulation- POFMA) against Arvind Kejriwal. Actually, it is the law in Singapore to stop the lies being spread online. It is designed to prevent the spread of misinformation.

Singapore's Ministry of Health has asked the POFMA office to issue general reform-related instructions to Facebook, Twitter and local social media platforms. This means that after the enactment of this law, now social media companies including Facebook, Twitter and Hardwarejondotcom will have to send a correction notice to all end-users in Singapore. This means that no information related to Arvind Kejriwal's statement will be shown in Singapore.

According to the statement of Singapore's Ministry of Health, under this, now social media companies will have to give a correction and clarification to all end-users regarding the lies regarding Singapore variants. Social media platforms have to state that there is no Singapore variant of the Corona and there is no evidence that a Corona variant is extremely dangerous for children. Let the CM of Delhi said on Tuesday that the new strain found in Singapore may cause a third wave in India, which may affect children more.

However, earlier Singapore High Commissioner Simon Wong hinted at the implementation of the law in a virtual press conference. He said on Wednesday that Singapore wants to close this unfortunate chapter and focus on a common war against the epidemic. After the tweet by Kejriwal linking the new strain to Singapore, diplomatic relations with the South Asian country were affected. The Indian High Commissioner in Singapore was summoned on Wednesday and objected.

After this, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar himself took the front and called the Delhi Chief Minister's statement as irresponsible, saying that what he said is not the favor of India. "We praise the Indian government's clear answer and are satisfied with it," Wong said, adding that a prominent political figure in New Delhi without testing the facts said unfortunate things, on which Singapore has expressed deep concern. .

Significantly, POFMA is commonly known as the Fake News Act. This law has been created towards the Parliament of Singapore to prevent the spread of false information. Wong said that it is the responsibility of those who hold important political positions not to spread lies. Referring to the statements of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Health Minister Satyendar Jain, he said that the investigation in Singapore has determined that it is only the B.1.617.2 variant, which was first found in India.