Stopping the lies, half-truths and smears

THIS WEEK'S TOPIC: Should Singapore introduce a law to deal with online falsehoods? How else could we stem the scourge of fake news?

John Bittleston Founder & Chair Terrific Mentors International Pte Ltd

THERE has always been "fake news"aka "lies". There has never before been the ability to distribute it as widely as the Internet can. Transparency is good but proliferation of lies is bad.

Commercial fake news can already be handled in court. It seldom is. When it is, sentences are generally light and penalties are more financial than personal.

There should be a law against fake news with, perhaps, a special court to deal with it. If the court judges the fake news to be damaging, the sentence should be incarceration, or, if less damaging, a monitored and publicly seen community service.

Chris Foster Regional President Y&R Asia

I'm not sure it's fake news that's the problem. I think the root of the problem lies in the fact that predictive analytics and AI on our big social media platforms have narrowed our exposure to information based on our search and engagement patterns.

This has created a "through the looking glass" moment in our world where fake news can masquerade as reality and the choices we make are based on an ever-narrowing and distorted view of the world's information.

I don't believe this can be solved with regulation; the onus needs to be on the individual to ensure they are well informed, not misinformed.

Mark Laudi CEO Hong Bao Media

FAKE news is only a problem if consumers believe it. The only solution I see is that consumers must become more media-savvy.

They must learn to differentiate between malicious falsehoods and honest mistakes, between speculative rumours and verified facts.

They must learn to ask more probing questions, and not take every answer at face value.

In the words of Edgar Allan Poe: Believe nothing you hear, and only half of what you see.

Dileep Nair Independent Director Keppel DC Reit Management Pte Ltd

FAKE news is not new. What's changed is how fast it travels and its pervasiveness, largely due to digital platforms and social media. Legislation to combat such falsehoods is obviously needed to ensure online accountability, just like laws against slander and libel.

Question is how will the laws be crafted and enforced without curtailing people's right to freedom of speech, and expression of alternative views and opinions.

A "light touch" is desirable though tough action against egregious cases of wilful misinformation and mischief would be initially necessary.

Society also needs to be better educated in news literacy, for example, by reading beyond the headlines, by cross-checking with other sources and by asking about the purpose of the content. Schools are an obvious place to start, together with campaigns for the general public.

Finally, our mainstream media must nurture the public's trust and become the "go-to" source for the truth. This needs professional journalism and unbiased coverage of the news.

Karl Hamann Chief Executive Officer QBE Insurance (Singapore) Pte Ltd

A LAW to deal with fake news could further deter any individuals or organisations from manipulating and leveraging public sentiment or opinion with malicious intent.

Singapore's multi-racial and multi-religious society is an important part of the national fabric, and special care must be taken to ensure that this long-term harmony is preserved. Without proper safeguards, it could potentially be upset by unchecked reports and contentious claims.

Beyond stricter laws and regulation, Singapore should also work to increase media and digital literacy among its people and train them to verify the source of news reports and to stem the spread of online falsehoods.

Patricia Reed Founder Reed Estate

THE printing press was considered a huge threat to "truth" by the Catholic church when it was invented. It made lists of banned materials.

Today, in the age of forgeries from news to children's videos on YouTube, the desire to legislate the truth is understandable but misguided. Who deems what is "true"? How do we keep up?

AI promises to generate better and better faked images and video. Children can be taught to spot fake news, and are very good at it. Major event fakes will be outed by cross-referencing, but relying on a central "authenticator" is unrealistic.

Sunlight makes the best disinfectant, and people will need, as always, to consider the source. Education, not legislation.

Tan Chong Huat Managing Partner RHTLaw Taylor Wessing LLP

LIKE computer viruses, fake news is mischievous handiwork of little or no socioeconomic benefit, but capable of causing serious socioeconomic harm. Fake news can spread online as quickly as computer viruses.

Non-legal measures to protect a computer system from being infected by a virus can be costly, just as measures to screen out fake news would be.

Enacting legislation to criminalise the release of fake news, with sufficiently severe penalties, will have a deterrent effect and help to cut down incidences of fake news being propagated in Singapore.

Vipin Kalra Chief Executive Officer BankBazaar International

AS digitalisation grows and permeates every aspect of our lives, it is necessary for legislation to evolve too and address associated issues such as the spread of online falsehoods.

This is especially important in a hyper-connected country such as Singapore.

That said, legislation only tackles a part of the issue. Online players and publishers need to be responsible for the information disseminated on their platforms.

At BankBazaar, we take this responsibility seriously and endeavour to ensure that the information on our platform is transparent and neutral, so that customers can make an informed decision.

Chris J Reed Global CEO and Founder The Dark Art of Marketing and Black Marketing

YES, and only Singapore could do this and enforce it. Fake news, fake reviews and fake social media profiles posting more fake content are a danger to the future of businesses in Singapore.

Whether it's TripAdvisor or GlassDoor, Facebook or Twitter, these platforms are not just full of fake profiles but fake reviews too. This fake content damages businesses and leads to the breakdown of community and increases cultural tensions.

These factors affect the Singapore economy, and ultimately everyone living here. As the platforms themselves won't do anything about it, the Singapore government needs to act.

Therefore legislation to outlaw, prevent, take down fake content and then punish the content posters (and indeed sharers) is the only way to prevent Singapore from going the same way as the US and UK - into political and social discord, and even civil war between races and cultures.

Doing nothing is not an option. Only people creating fake profiles and posting fake content have something to hide from such a law.

Julian Quinn Vice-President, Asia-Pacific Qlik

IN a recent global research we conducted on data literacy, we found that nearly half of respondents (45 per cent) struggle to differentiate between data truths and manipulations in the media - and 16-24 year olds struggle the most (58 per cent).

Interestingly and more worryingly - one in four have not changed the way they scrutinise data, and 5 per cent are not even aware of fake news or inaccurate online content.

It's critical that in addition to creating legislation which will reduce fake news creation, we start putting a strong focus on data literacy, or the ability to use and scrutinise data.

Through this, the population - whether young or old - can be critical of the information they receive, interrogate facts and figures to get to the real truth, and nip the trend of sharing fakes news at the bud.

Dolly Goh Chief Executive Officer Singapore National Co-operative Federation

WITH the sheer volume of information on social networks today, it has become increasingly difficult to determine the authenticity of "news".

The community has a role to help stamp out misinformation and should not rely on legislation alone.

In our co-operative world, co-operatives empower themselves to help one another. In a recent situation when a piece of fake news involving one of our co-operatives went viral, we verified the news with the source, confirmed that it was fake and then shared the right information with our contacts and on our social media platform. Each individual can do his/her part. In this way, we minimise the spread of fake news.

Evangeline Leong CEO and Founder Kobe Global Technologies

I THINK there should be a law because false information can cause panic and distort the truth in the eyes of the public.

However, I am also worried that strict laws regarding false information will further restrict freedom of speech in Singapore. Thus the government should define clearly in the regulations what is considered false news and what is considered an opinion.

The government can set up committees to monitor online news. The committee will be responsible for tracking online fake news and removing it before it spreads. In addition, the government should make use of different channels to educate different segments of the Internet population on how to discern fake news.

Ian Lee Regional Head, Asia-Pacific The Adecco Group

THE issue of deliberately disseminating "fake news" is a real one that can adversely impact individuals, companies and even countries. It is also a difficult one to resolve given the complex nature of social media interactions and esoteric aspects of the Internet such as dark Web.

Even the biggest Internet companies are struggling to find ways to manage it, realising that there are limitations to how much can be achieved by just having bigger moderation teams.

So we need an ecosystem of relevant stakeholders such as government, media owners, content publishers, skilled individuals and startups to come up with technological solutions, perhaps leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning, to stem the scourge of fake news.

Moreover, people need to be educated about tolerating diversity of opinions, be made aware of ways to verify information and have the tools to flag fake news.

Any legislative response to the issue needs to be well thought through to ensure effectiveness and prevent misuse.

Edwin Khew Teck Fook President The Institution of Engineers, Singapore

THE phenomenon of fake news is not new. But the migration of information into the digital realm, fuelled by instant sharing, has caused online falsehoods to surge.

While legislation can help in discouraging fake content, control and prosecution pose many challenges.

The gravity of the situation calls for the government and media bodies to set up a site or sites against which the public can verify the authenticity of questionable news.

Ultimately, it is still up to individuals to choose to get their news from reputable sources, read beyond the headlines and hold back from propagating fake information.

Wong Heng Chew Country President Fujitsu Singapore

THE mission to combat fake news has widespread implications - from correcting misinformation to stopping a potentially devastating security threat for an organisation.

While there is a call for legislation, we need to take personal responsibility to be selective and responsible for what we choose to believe and share.

Businesses can play a part as well to help educate their staff and provide corporate guidance on social media usage.

Our social media guidelines, aligned to the FUJITSU Way which defines our corporate vision and values, provides such guidance to our employees.

The fundamental lies in responsible usage and developing good social media habits - respecting human rights, no misuse of information, personal safety, to name a few.

Tan Mui Huat President and Chief Executive Officer, Asia International SOS

THE purpose of news is to help people make informed decisions about their lives and their communities.

Fake news, on the other hand, seeks to destabilise and clouds judgement.

Regulation could serve as a deterrent on a certain level, however public education must continue and organisations also have a part to play especially in the digital space.

At International SOS, our clients and their mobile workforce rely on us for accurate information for their business assignments overseas.

We use a multi-layered verification approach to develop our advice which includes deploying teams on the ground, corroborating information with authorities and vetted sources on top of our data-mining technology.

An instance of how fake news is disruptive came up when a member, who had just arrived in Jakarta during the 2016 attacks, became concerned and wanted to cancel an important meeting due to the exaggerated reports online.

In speaking with our security specialist, and verifying the location and extent of the attacks, he was able to continue with his meetings with peace of mind.

Walter de Oude CEO Singapore Life

TRYING to catch or control fake news through regulation would be like trying to catch water with a sieve. News and ideas and opinions flow like water through so many digital channels that it is impossible to keep up, let alone regulate.

Our age of information is changing so rapidly that trying to guide it in a particular direction or control it would probably do more harm than good - delaying information flow, and penalising those who would choose to comply and yield opportunity for those who chose not to.

But fake news or advice can always be slanted towards the interests of the party giving it. Our best choice is to encourage Internet users to validate what they hear against trusted sources and high authority sites.

A great example in the insurance world is to not rely solely on the view of an insurance agent who only represents one company rather than considering other valid sources of information.

Sites such as www.comparefirst.sg or www.singlife.com may be useful reference points to check insurance advice!

Yap Boh Tiong Chairman Mileage Communications Pte Ltd

THE pervasive use of digital technology has resulted in ease of communication. As a result, we are "bombarded" by news both true and fake. This can be dangerous when fake news goes viral and falsehoods become "truths".

The use of legislation would show that the government takes fake news seriously, but legislation is not the end-all.

The most effective solution is educating people from all strata of society to be discerning. This initiative should be led by government agencies, employers, schools and parents.

One key focus of the "Better Internet Campaign", starting this week, is discerning fake news.

Children and youths must be able to tell truth from falsehood amid the surfeit of information, while the susceptible elderly must be helped to prevent them from falling victim to hoaxes.

Maren Schweizer Director Schweizer World Pte Ltd

THE introduction of the printing press in the 15th Century and its impact on the world in the ensuing centuries may serve as an instructive analogy. During the first century after Gutenberg, print did as much to spread lies and false information as to enlighten with facts.

Government or authorities' intervention to curate the contents and verify information to identify "fake news" is very difficult. History has shown that the power is rather utilised to silence political opponents and censor unapproved speech.

On the other hand, traditional gatekeepers like news organisations were not able to play any key role in eradicating the false news, mainly because they lack the institutional authority they once enjoyed.

Unfortunately, there is no quick or permanent resolution to this. However, over time this problem can be resolved through what I define as a three-fold approach.

To begin with, establish a common global gatekeeper approach through the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

Secondly, content creators and content distributors should adapt their professional norms to new technologies of distribution through which these norms are better explained to the public and protected from erosion.

And not least, content consumers should be better educated and be able to distinguish credible sources from stories derived by competitors. In any case, freedom of expression must be safeguarded.

Ronald Lee Managing Director PrimeStaff

IF Facebook, a commercial entity, can implement policies to curb the spread of fake news, then governments should all the more take the lead in stemming this scourge that could potentially threaten social and racial harmony, and even national security.

So yes, I do believe Singapore should consider introducing a law to discourage and deal with online falsehoods, targeting the originators of such fake news in particular.

That said, the relevant authorities must be careful not to overact such that it infringes upon our personal rights and freedom of speech.

Therefore, my recommendation is to draw the line in regulating content portrayed as "news" by public platforms or commercial entities versus the personal opinions of private individuals.

Additionally, I urge the general public to educate themselves on such matters so that they can be more worldly and discerning, and thus better able to distinguish between trusted news sources and fake news or even satire sites - before they click "share".

Lim Soon Hock Managing Director PLAN-B ICAG Pte Ltd

THE Internet inundates us with an avalanche of information. Stories borne of an author's imagination can be manipulated to deceive or to misrepresent. The Internet has been abused as an effective conduit to make such stories go viral.

The 2016 US election and its current president bring to the fore our insensitivity or vulnerability to "fake news".

Many of us do not realise that often, we are victims of the illusory truth effect; the greater fool theory; the identifier effect; and the propagation of myths or fake news, especially when these are repeated incessantly.

Having a law to deal with online falsehoods does not fully solve the problem. We cannot stem fake news, but we can collectively neutralise it by making an effort to sieve out the real truth, from the tsunami of information that we are hit with daily.

Most important of all, we should not be trapped to become purveyors of online falsehoods by sharing freely and indiscriminately with others. The consequences can be devastating, if it concerns sensitive matters of religion or race for Singapore.

Amanda Goh Chief Executive Officer Edelman Singapore

SIXTY-NINE per cent of respondents in Singapore, according to the Edelman Trust Barometer 2018, worry about false information or fake news being used as a weapon.

Nearly two-thirds agree that it is becoming harder to tell if a piece of news was produced by a respected media organisation.

With the advent of fake news, Singaporeans continue to trust journalism over platforms for credible reporting. Trust in journalism, both traditional and online-only media, rose 10 points, to 66 per cent, continuing to be more trusted than platforms, both search engines and social media, which rose three points.

The media as a collective, regardless of the passing of a law on fake news, should consider rebuilding trust by focusing on educating the public on the issues and guarding information quality.

Bazul Ashhab Managing Partner Oon & Bazul LLP

OVER 80 per cent of Singaporean news consumers are concerned about fake news, the highest among five countries surveyed by BBC Global News recently. Given our racial and religious profile and the threat of fake news to our social fabric, the concern by Singaporeans is understandable.

Ideally there should be some form of international law that governs fake news, given the global nature of news dissemination these days, but that will take a long time.

In the interim, Singapore must introduce a law that will allow the government to correct or remove fake news. This must also include holding social network users responsible for reporting inappropriate content.

Olive Tai Co-founder and Managing Director Beautiful.me & Synagie.com

I'M all for Singapore introducing a regulatory framework to monitor and possibly penalise producers of fake news. But this comes with a major caveat that the government of Singapore needs to think about: How will such an enacted law translate into actionable steps?

The Internet of Things provides two significant conditions that make fake news possible: Perceived freedom of expression and the belief that anyone can post derisory content under the cloak of total anonymity. How is a government agency going to trawl through every bit of news, opinions and low authority sites that syndicate fake news.

Organisations must take a more responsible approach towards managing fake news at a granular level and either work towards their advantage or offer clarifications and citations to separate truth from fiction.

Robin C Lee Group COO Bok Seng Group

THERE are two types of fake news: one that's good, honest, satirical fun looking to elicit laughs, while the other is out to create trouble, possibly political, racial or even religious. In my opinion, the latter is unacceptable in any form, event or media. However, with the easy and rapid proliferation of information today, proper filtering of news, especially fake ones, is anything but simple.

Even some mainstream media channels are losing their grasp on objective facts and banking more on sensational tales to play on their audiences' emotions and bias, all for the sake of views and ratings. While how information and opinions are digested is ultimately left to the individual, online falsehoods that aim to malign must always be called out and dealt with legislatively.

Zaheer K Merchant Regional Director (Singapore & Europe) QI Group of Companies

SINGAPORE'S laws relating to defamation, malicious falsehood and online content regulation are excellent. They are more than adequate in my view.

The key issue is sifting out what is fake news or not, and enhancing greater media and source credibility, apart from the need to be cautious in trying to mitigate with more legislation for such matters.

To stem the scourge of fake news, the government must collaborate closely with tech and social media companies to monitor the spread of online falsehoods, as the overwhelming majority of so-called fake news are transmitted through these platforms. Selectivity and proper evaluation of "news" would be far more effective than laws which may not be necessary.

Tarun Deo Managing Director of Singapore and South-east Asia Golin

IN a word, yes - legislation is one of three key pillars that need to go hand in hand to tackle fake news. Also important are:

The digital world is not dissimilar to the "real" world in which there are rules that spell out how a civil society conducts itself and flourishes "online".

T Chandroo Chairman/CEO Modern Montessori International (MMI) Group

THE perils of online falsehoods are obvious in a multi-racial society as people often struggle to differentiate between true statements and those disguised as facts.

An equitable approach to the laws will ensure that people's voices are heard in a respectable and safe manner.

Ensuring that everyone young and old is well-informed about how to interpret information will serve greatly to minimise the spread of online falsehoods.

Basic knowhow of verifying sources, interpreting the way in which content is structured and how facts and figures are presented are some elementary ways to identify fake information.

Henry Tan Managing Director Nexia TS

I BELIEVE that all of us should be held responsible and accountable for what we say or represent. We hold individuals responsible for acts that hurt others, for example, murder, violence, reckless driving.

Fake news or information can and will hurt others. The effects can be devastating. There should be legislation to cover this area, including what is considered acts with or without malicious intent. Boundaries can also be drawn on the extent of the reach of the information.

Other potential responses include requiring online platforms to build in artificial intelligence or some vetting and monitoring process to screen falsehoods.

A central reporting framework similar to that for anti-money laundering should be set up to enable the public to lodge reports about misinformation and falsehoods. This would raise awareness and allow the public to be involved in policing any spread of fake news.

Annie Yap CEO AYP Associates

THE age of distributed content has brought about many promises and pitfalls. And unfortunately, it has also enabled the deliberate spread of misinformation through digital media.

It is critical to distinguish truth from false news and make an effort to corroborate information sources.

Even the most absurd claims can elicit mistrust and alarm, as evident from the political demonstrations and misinformation campaigns in the US and elsewhere of late.

Singapore should confront this budding issue through legislation and garner support from both private and public sectors. Efforts should also be made to distinguish fact (and opinion) from fiction.

Another approach to curtail online falsehood is to encourage news literacy among citizens and maintain a healthy scepticism of information.

More importantly, we each have to play our part in maintaining Singapore's political stability together.