Lim Tean and People's Voice issued POFMA notice

Singapore -- The Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) issued its first set of correction directions in the 2020 General Elections on July 2.

People’s Voice (PV) Secretary-General Lim Tean’s Youtube channel and PV's Facebook page were issued with the correction directions. This was due to a video uploaded on both these platforms containing a false statement with regards to government expenditure on foreign students.

In the video uploaded on both platforms, Mr Lim was seen saying:

"We spend a quarter of a billion dollars providing free education for foreigners every year."

The government website Factually, corrected the statement on July 2, saying:

"This is false and misleading. MOE does not spend a quarter of a billion dollars to provide free education for foreigners every year.

While MOE spends about S$238 million on foreign students a year as stated in a parliamentary reply on August 5, 2019, the significant majority of these students are still required to pay fees higher than those of local students and/or fulfil a bond obligation after graduation."

In 2019, Mr Lim was also issued a POFMA correction direction regarding the issue of government expenditure on foreign students.

A few netizens came out in support of Mr Lim regarding the POFMA issue.

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However, some other netizens were adamant that Mr Lim will not be getting their support.

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Many also helped to explain why Mr Lim was issued the correction direction, clarifying the difference between what Mr Lim said and what the fact is.

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Other netizens raised problems regarding POFMA that went beyond just what Mr Lim said.

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Many also took away important information from the clarification made by Factually.

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