The laws that are implemented are not sufficient to deter the spread of fake news, and that everyone has to play their part to protect Singapore from the threat it poses, Minister for Communications and Information S. Iswaran said on 11 Mar.
Mr. Iswaran pointed out that digital technology and the Internet poses a threat to personal privacy, social cohesion, and national security, especially so when Singaporeans can create and share content widely
Even though there are legislations in place to stop the spread of fake news, well-informed netizens who can distinguish between real and phony information online is still essential, he added.
The minister was speaking at the inaugural Better Internet Conference, organized by the Media Literacy Council, held at the Singapore Institute of Technology.
He also mentioned that the National Framework on Information, Media and Cyber Literacy, which will create a set of guidelines to public agencies and other groups running digital literacy programs, is still under development.
Two new media literacy resources are introduced during the conference – the Get Smart With Sherlock fact-checking starter kit and the News and Media Literacy Toolkit. The former contains lessons to help Singaporeans understand the dangers of spreading falsehoods and how to curb the spread online while the latter will help students hone their media literacy skills.
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