Committee studying issue of online falsehoods to hold public hearings in March
Photo: Dai Ke/Unsplash
SINGAPORE — After asking the public to share their views on the spread of online falsehoods, the Select Committee on Deliberate Online Falsehoods will be holding public hearings later this month.
The public hearings will be held on March 14-16, March 22-23 and March 27-29, said the Office of the Clerk of Parliament on Monday (March 5).
“The Select Committee will decide, as the hearings progress, whether all the dates need to be used,” it added.
The hearings will be held at the Parliament’s Public Hearing Room, which will be open to members of the public and the media.
Those who are interested can still make written representations to the Select Committee by 4.30pm on Wednesday.
More information on the written representations, as well as the individuals and organisations, who will be giving oral evidence at the public hearings, will be made available after the Select Committee meets on March 9.
Last week, Deputy Speaker Charles Chong — who chairs the committee — told TODAY that the deadline for the public to hand in written submissions were extended by a week from the original deadline at Feb 28.
The committee was convened on Jan 10, after Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shaunmugam tabled a motion in Parliament for a 10-member team to consider the entities and individuals that engage in spreading misinformation, their motivations, what consequences the spread of online falsehoods can have on Singapore, and how the Republic should prevent and combat it.
All 80 members in the House voted in favour of the motion.
Stakeholders such as the media, technology companies, international experts and civil rights groups can make make submissions to the committee. The committee will then report its recommendations to the Parliament.
