Dozens of university dons concerned Singapore’s anti-fake news laws will stifle academic freedom
- Writers of letter to government took issue with penalties proposed in new bill, noting they would affect students in ‘an indeterminately wide range of subjects’
- Tabled in parliament on April 1, the bill has raised eyebrows for the sweeping powers it would hand the government.
Over 80 academics from around the world have written to the Singapore government expressing concerns over how recently proposed laws against online falsehoods could threaten academic freedom in the city state.
The Protection From Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Bill, tabled in parliament on April 1, has raised eyebrows for the sweeping powers it would hand the government.
In their letter, sent to Singapore’s education minister on April 11 and made available to the media on April 13, the academics focused on how the proposed powers to police falsehoods could backfire on researchers. “The legislation may also set negative precedents, with knock-on effects on the global academy,” wrote the academics.
They noted that much of academic work focuses on disputing apparently established “facts”, which are confirmed or denied through research, and continuously reappraised as new data becomes available.
“Thus for many phenomena it is not possible to state definitively what is a ‘fact’ proven for all time, and what is a conjecture or hypothesis that may turn out to be ‘false or misleading’,” wrote the group of scholars, who include University of Michigan business professor Linda Lim, Baptist University journalism professor Cherian George, National University of Singapore political scientist Chong Ja Ian and Nanyang Technological University sociologist Teo You Yenn.