US comedian Sammy Obeid fails to comply with POFMA correction order; Meta, X directed to take action

SINGAPORE: The Singapore government announced on Thursday (Sep 4) that it has instructed Meta and X to take action, after US comedian Sammy Obeid failed to comply with a correction order issued to him over allegations he made about his cancelled show.

The correction order, issued on Sep 1 under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA), required Mr Obeid to publish correction notices on the social media posts in question. 

As he did not comply, the POFMA Office has been instructed to issue what is known as targeted correction directions to Meta and X.

This requires Meta and X to communicate correction notices to users in Singapore who accessed, or will access, the posts.

In issuing its latest POFMA order on Thursday, the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) noted that Mr Obeid had alleged that his script was rejected even after he complied with the required removals of references to Israel, Palestine and the Gaza conflict. 

He also alleged that the authority in charge - the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) - told him that they were rejecting his application for a licence, among other things, because they were wary that he might go off-script on stage.

These are false claims, MDDI said, reiterating its earlier statement on Sep 1.

Under the correction order, Mr Obeid was not required to remove the original posts.

WHAT HAPPENED

Born in Oakland, California, Mr Obeid described himself on his website as a Lebanese-Palestinian-Syrian-Italian-American.

He had planned to perform twice at Victoria Theatre on Aug 31 and said in his post that 1,001 people had been expected at the shows.

Mr Obeid had posted on Instagram on Aug 27, claiming that his script was rejected twice and he was told to remove references to the conflict in Gaza, among other things.

By the evening of Aug 28, the post had been reshared more than 800 times and garnered over 1,600 comments.

The stand-up comedian said he was aware that his set, which is "almost entirely focused on the ongoing genocide in Gaza", was unlikely to be approved by Singapore’s authorities. 

He claimed he eventually submitted a "heavily censored script" that was rejected, with instructions to remove all mentions of Palestine and Israel. 

A second script with the edits and several "subtle cryptic messages" was also rejected, he added. 

IMDA said on Aug 28 that it had not requested any edits to be made to the script.

The authority noted it had received the application for Mr Obeid’s shows close to midnight on Aug 15, which is about 10 working days before the shows on Aug 31.

“Arts Entertainment Licence applications are required to be submitted at least 40 working days before the event, to allow sufficient time for applications to be processed or advisories to be included in publicity materials and advertisements,” it said.

It added that the event’s local representative – an experienced licence applicant – was informed on Aug 19 via email that the late application could not be processed. This was reiterated on Aug 25 through a call and in writing.

"The organiser had informed IMDA that she was unaware the comedian would make such claims and has emails and recordings showing she repeatedly reminded him the application was late and that no script edits were required," said an IMDA spokesperson.

Minister for Law and Second Minister for Home Affairs Edwin Tong said on Aug 31 that the authorities were considering "further steps" after Mr Obeid gave a "fictional account" of what had happened. 

"The facts are clear, and what happened is also clear. The rules say that license applications have to be submitted 40 working days to IMDA before a show is put up," said Mr Tong. 

Full facts of this case are available on the Factually website.