About 28 local civil society, arts and community groups have signed a joint statement voicing their concerns over the draft Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA). Amongst the noted groups are Maruah, Aware, Function 8, The Online Citizen, Pink Dot and the Humanitarian Organisation for Migrant Economics (HOME).
The draft Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) bill was recently tabled in Parliament. The bill, which aims to provide the government with powers to act against online falsehoods to protect public interest, intends to give ministers the authority to determine what is an online falsehood and what action to take against what they deem to be online falsehoods.
The group highlighted that the bill would grant extensive power to the Government, and they placed their concerns that Ministers are now the all powerful entities who would tell you what is fake news and what is not, and they can even exempt people from this Bill if they should wish.
