MCI directs IMDA to remove access blocking orders to East Asia Forum following cancellation of CD

22 SEP 2023

  1. The Minister for Communications and Information has today, directed the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) to remove Access Blocking Orders to the East Asia Forum’s (EAF) website. This follows the cancellation of Correction Direction under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) issued by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office.

  2. On 20 September 2023, EAF applied for the Correction Direction issued on 13 September 2023 (the “Correction Direction”) to be cancelled. EAF explained that the article “A spate of scandals strikes Singapore” published on 18 August 2023 has been removed from all publication sites associated with EAF at the request of the author. The author, Assistant Professor Chan Ying-Kit, has also issued a public apology on this matter. The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Ms Indranee Rajah, has instructed the POFMA Office to cancel the Correction Direction issued to EAF.

  3. For facts of the case, please refer to the Factually article “Corrections regarding false statements of fact in article and post published by East Asia Forum on 18 August 2023” (https://www.gov.sg/article/factually130923-b)