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Lawyer Lian Chuan Yeoh has said that the majority of deliberate online falsehoods the Government has accused opposition party member Brad Bowyer of making could be construed as opinions instead of statements of fact.
On 13 Nov, Mr Bowyer questioned certain investments sovereign wealth funds GIC and Temasek have made, in a Facebook post.
Raising doubts about GIC’s investments in Indian telecommunications company Bharti Airtel, Temasek’s investment in Bayer as well as investments in Andhra Pradesh made by government-linked companies (GLCs), Mr Bowyer added that Temasek invested in the debt-ridden parent company which owns the Salt Bae chain of restaurants.
On Monday (25 Nov), the Government invoked the recently-enacted anti-fake news law – the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) – for the first time since it came into effect in October this year and directed Mr Bowyer to correct his Facebook post.
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The POFMA Office revealed that Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat initiated the action and that it issued a Correction Direction to Mr Bowyer, which requires him to publish a correction notice at the top of his Facebook post.” Mr Bowyer – a member of the Progress Singapore Party – complied and edited his 13 Nov Facebook post to include the correction notice.
The Ministry of Finance commented on the Facebook post in a separate press release and said: “Mr Bowyer’s post contains clearly false statements of fact, and undermines public trust in the Government. It is necessary to state this for the record: GIC and Temasek operate on a commercial basis, and the Government is not involved in their individual investment decisions.”
The Government-run fact-checking portal, Factually, also published an article laying out the falsehoods that Mr Bowyer made in his Facebook post. Asserting that Mr Bowyer used “false and misleading statements to smear the reputation of Temasek and GIC,” Factually identified three falsehoods in Mr Bowyer’s post:
- That the Singapore Government is involved in investment decisions by Temasek and GIC and controls Temasek’s and GIC’s commercial decisions;
- That a substantial part of the S$4 billion invested in Andhra Pradesh was “dumped” into the now-scrapped Amaravati project; and
- That Temasek invested in the debt-ridden parent company which owns Salt Bae.
Commenting on the correction notice, lawyer Lian Chuan Yeoh has expressed his opinion that there is only one factually false assertion in Mr Bowyer’s post. Mr Yeoh is the managing director at Sabara Law LLC, a member of the renowned Deloitte Legal network.
In a Facebook post published on Monday (25 Nov), the former Allen & Overy counsel said that Mr Bowyer’s claim that Temasek invested in a debt-ridden owner of Salt Bae is the only factually false assertion in his post and the other purported falsehoods could be construed as opinion.
Mr Yeoh does not appear to be a supporter of Mr Bowyer. He opened his post by opining that “Mr Bowyer tends to talk nonsense, and has no credibility, so it is not surprising that he is the subject of an order.” He, however, added that he is “not totally satisfied with the correction order” issued by the POFMA office.
Asserting that he would have suggested that Mr Bowyer appeal the correction notice “if Mr Bowyer were a more credible commentator” and that an appeal would have served as a “test” of how POFMA works, Mr Yeoh wrote:
“…it seems to me that there is actually only one factually false assertion, i.e. that Temasek invested in a debt-ridden owner of Salt Bae. Apart from that, the G asserted that Mr Bower IMPLIEDLY said that:
“a. the G intervened in Temasek and GIC investment decisions; and
“b. (1) a substantial part of S$4 billion invested in Andhra Pradesh was put into the Amaravati project; and (2) S$4 billion has been poorly invested (“dumped”) by Government-linked companies (“GLCs”) and related parties in Andhra Pradesh.
“In my mind, Mr Bowyer did not make the assertion in (a). He did say that the G is accountable ultimately for the decisions of Temasek and GIC as it is the sole shareholder, but I don’t think he went beyond that, as I read his post.
“Whether he is correct or not to do so, I feel that this is an opinion that Mr Bowyer is entitled to advance.
“As for (b), I think this assertion – that the GLCs have poorly invested in Andhra Pradesh – would amount only to an opinion, not a false statement of fact.
“In its response, the G highlighted that others besides GLCs also invested in the state. But this is a non sequitur. It does no go anywhere to proving the falsity of Mr Bowyer’s alleged false statement of fact.
“If Mr Bowyer were a more credible commentator, I would have suggested that he should appeal the correction order except in relation to the investment in Salt Bae. If for no other reason, this would serve as test of how POFMA works.”
The G has issued its first POFMA correction order, against a post by Mr Brad Bowyer.Mr Bowyer tends to talk nonsense,…
Posted by Lian Chuan Yeoh on Sunday, 24 November 2019
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