A high-level committee of ministers and Members of Parliament tasked to look into ways Singapore can counter deliberate online falsehoods has received 164 submissions, the highest number collected by such a committee.

Media organisations, technology companies, foreign and local academics and experts, commentators as well as members of the public were among those who had written in to the Select Committee on Deliberate Online Falsehoods – Causes, Consequences and Countermeasures.

Parliament or the Council of Presidential Advisers to pick experts from the civil service, academia, the arts and civil society for a committee that will clarify fake news that can cause inter-religious and inter-ethnic disputes. Its scope could be expanded when necessary, said Associate Professor Alan Chong of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS).

Research shows that direct contradiction of fake news can be counter-productive, as people respond best to those perceived to be more similar to them. Given this, the authorities could work with alternative media outlets and social media firms to debunk falsehoods, said RSIS academics Norman Vasu, Benjamin Ang, Terri-Anne Teo, Shashi Jayakumar, Muhammad Faizal and Juhi Ahuja.

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