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Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
Rights groups, tech companies, academics and journalists opposed the law, which they say threatens free speech.
A "fake news" law, decried by academics, activists and tech giants, has gone into effect in Singapore, despite warnings that the measures could be used to stifle dissent and free speech in the South East Asian island country.
The law, which was passed by Singapore's parliament in May but took effect on Wednesday, gives government ministers powers to order social media companies to put warnings next to posts authorities deem to be false, order some content to be removed and in some cases block websites deemed to be propagating false information contrary to "public interest".
In April, shortly before the bill passed, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, said the legislation was an "essential part" of fighting fake news and hate speech.
[...] Over 170 academics signed a letter saying the legislation had been fast-tracked without proper input from "key civil society actors."
The law is "likely to have a chilling effect on freedom of expression and academic freedom in Singapore", they said.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Entropy on Saturday October 05 2019, @07:02PM (2 children)
It's the opposite of freedom. It's used to control the populace, which makes it even more sad when some people support laws that are basically censorship. You can declare anything "fake", "racist", or "offensive" which means you can silence ANYONE you want.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Sunday October 06 2019, @03:54PM (1 child)
Last week has brought discussions of Trump's declining mental health and obvious corruption into the mainstream, as governments try to figure out how to deal with a country led by a clearly irrational and corrupt president who is not running some 3rd world backwater.
He's a traitor but there are too many who have profited from it who can't say anything now - republican senators spring to mind.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Entropy on Sunday October 06 2019, @04:04PM
You're probably one of those people that believes (insert awful thing here) is necessary due to "Protect the children!" or "Terrorists!". Lately we've added "Racist!" to the generic battle cries used to justify all sorts of awful things. People have the fundamental right to express themselves, even if they are wrong. The proper way to deal with people that are wrong are to actually open a discussion which will naturally reveal their flaws. The communist China approach is pretty sad, in my opinion.
Freedom is important. If people are too dumb to deal with free speech then educate them. If people are too wimpy to deal with free speech that makes them uncomfortable, then have them grow up.