Senior Minister of State for Law and Health Edwin Tong, said the government must make first call but there is legal safeguard for those who disagree with the decision.

Reiterating this safeguard at the forum titled Truth And Lies: Trust In Times Of Information Disorder, Mr Tong said such powers were “not very different from how the Government might be expected to react if there was anything that affected the safety of our society”.

The forum was organised by SMU with Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies and Singapore Press Holdings (SPH).