Singapore: Issued MCI direction to IMDA to issue a access blocking order to East Asia Forum for non-compliance with correction direction

On 16 September 2023, the Minister for Communications and Information (MCI) directed the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) to issue an Access Blocking Order due to East Asia Forum's non-compliance with a Correction Direction. The Correction Direction required the East Asia Forum to juxtapose the facts against the falsehoods, allowing end-users in Singapore to read both versions and draw their own conclusions. East Asia Forum did not comply with the requirement to place the Correction Notice at the top of the article and on the main page of the website; instead, it placed the Government's response at the bottom of the article within the comment section. Consequently, the East Asia Forum did not comply with the directive. The Access Blocking Order would require East Asia Forum to disable access for end-users in Singapore to the online location where the falsehood was communicated. If East Asia Forum subsequently complies with the Correction Direction by posting the required Correction Notice, the Minister will cancel the Access Blocking Order.