Singapore invokes fake news law against Lee Hsien Yang over Facebook post on political scandals

Prime Minister Lee’s brother, Lee Hsien Yang, says trust in the ruling party ‘has been shattered’ over various sagas involving PAP ministers in recent weeks

The correction notice issued refutes a number of Lee Hsien Yang’s comments, such as the felling of trees on state-owned properties rented by two ministers

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Lee Hsien Yang, the brother of Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in June 2020. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:35pm, 25 Jul 2023Updated: 11:12pm, 25 Jul 2023

Singapore authorities have invoked the country’s fake news law against the prime minister’s estranged younger brother Lee Hsien Yang for a Facebook post in which he criticised the ruling party for its recent spate of political scandals.

This marked the sixth time the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act 2019 (Pofma) had been invoked within a span of 10 days, targeting online comments about the various sagas involving the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) led by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Lee Hsien Yang’s post on July 23 was in reaction to the crisis in the PAP this month, as it reels from an unusual clutch of misdeeds and political dramas within its ranks.

“Trust in the PAP has been shattered,” his post said. “Trust has to be earned. It cannot simply be inherited. PM Lee Hsien Loong’s failure of leadership has squandered that trust.”

The post referenced several events, including Transport Minister S. Iswaran being investigated by the anti-corruption agency, and the resignations of parliamentary speaker Tan Chuan-Jin and MP Cheng Li Hui over an affair.