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SINGAPORE: The Online Citizen (TOC) was recently directed to publish a print correction notice in the Straits Times<\/span> to ensure that the facts are made accessible beyond online platforms, Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo said in a written parliamentary reply on Wednesday (Apr 8).<\/span><\/p>\n Responding to a question from MP Fadli Fawzi (WP-Aljunied)<\/span>, Mrs Teo said online falsehoods remain a persistent global challenge, with the potential to spread rapidly, polarise societies, undermine public trust in institutions and “threaten the foundations of democratic discourse” by eroding the shared factual basis needed for public debate.<\/p>\n Under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA), the government can require correction notices to be published on both online and, where necessary, offline platforms to ensure that accurate information reaches a wider audience.<\/p>\n Mrs Teo noted that falsehoods do not remain confined to digital spaces, but can spill over into offline discussions, influencing people who may not have encountered the original content online.<\/p>\n In the case of TOC’s chief editor Terry Xu and its publisher, the Mar 23 POFMA order was the first to require a correction notice to be published in a specified newspaper.<\/p>\n The Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) and the Ministry of Law told CNA on Mar 25 that authorities had considered TOC\u2019s \u201cpersistent\u201d publication of false and misleading content.<\/p>\n “In assessing what measures were necessary in the specific case highlighted by the member, the government took into account the overall context,” Mrs Teo said on Wednesday, noting that TOC had a history of publishing falsehoods.<\/p>\n TOC\u2019s website and its Facebook and X pages have been designated as Declared Online Locations<\/span> under POFMA on more than one occasion \u2013 in July 2023 and again in July 2025.<\/p>\n Despite these measures, TOC has continued to publish false and misleading content, Mrs Teo said, adding that over the past six years, TOC and its affiliated pages have been issued 25 correction directions.<\/p>\n “To mitigate against the impact and reach of the falsehoods communicated by TOC, it was necessary to supplement the online correction notices with a print correction notice in The Straits Times, so that the facts are made accessible beyond the online audience,” Mrs Teo said.<\/span><\/p>\n