Earlier quoted context omitted.
did he go to court and a judge said the evidence were incorrect?
one does not simply sue a military dictatorship
I'm not sure Singapore's government falls under a military dictatorship by any means.
Singapore tells Facebook to correct post under new fake news law
51–60 of 251 posts
Re: Singapore tells Facebook to correct post under new fake news law
#52I have a lateral question about Singapore. Everything I have read about the country says that it is one of the best in the world for business and, in particular, startups. Yet some of the commentary here leads me to believe there's a dark side to the reality of this nation. Anyone with first hand knowledge care to comment on this? I am puzzled because it so happens we might have to do some business in Singapore and a…
It’s a benevolent dictatorship. Benevolence is in the eye of the beholder. As a visitor to that country it is easily one of the safest and cleanest countries in SE Asia.
Re: Singapore tells Facebook to correct post under new fake news law
#53Why am I not surprised that it is Singapore doing this.
That country is an authoritarian nanny state disguised as Disney Land.
I have visited many times and have lots of friends there. Nobody cares about freedom of the press because they are well paid and comfortable.
They have truly figured out how to placate the masses.
Re: Singapore tells Facebook to correct post under new fake news law
#54> Facebook has previously said it was “concerned with aspects of the new law which grant broad powers to the Singapore executive branch to compel us to remove content they deem to be false and to push a government notification to users”.
How comical is this coming from Facebook that went all out combating "fake news" but they now they are concerned about arbitrary censorship?
Re: Singapore tells Facebook to correct post under new fake news law
#55I have a lateral question about Singapore. Everything I have read about the country says that it is one of the best in the world for business and, in particular, startups. Yet some of the commentary here leads me to believe there's a dark side to the reality of this nation. Anyone with first hand knowledge care to comment on this? I am puzzled because it so happens we might have to do some business in Singapore and a…
It's a bit more nuanced. My understanding is that for Singaporean citizens and PRs living in the country, registering a business is pretty fast, cheap, and easy. When the small foreign company I work for set up a subsidiary there, however, it was far more difficult. A lot of paperwork, required a SG legal firm and associated fees, answering a bunch of questions from the government about the business, required an existing local as the Director, etc. and it took months. The timezone difference certainly didn't help communication speed either. Then there's the visa process if you want to bring in anyone from outside of SG. Maybe it's less difficult for large multi-nationals.
Re: Singapore tells Facebook to correct post under new fake news law
#56I have a lateral question about Singapore. Everything I have read about the country says that it is one of the best in the world for business and, in particular, startups. Yet some of the commentary here leads me to believe there's a dark side to the reality of this nation. Anyone with first hand knowledge care to comment on this? I am puzzled because it so happens we might have to do some business in Singapore and a…
Only my opinion – I'm living and working in Singapore since 7 years and it definitely is a good environment to do business. The justice system is reliable and predictable to not startle potential investors and the government itself does not misuse their undoubtedly great power they have over the country. Misusing it however would result in losing money and that's pretty much the only natural resource they have. I'm feeling more free in Singapore than in my home country because whenever I have to do with the government, I know there's someone to talk to with common sense and nearly everything can be done online. You can look forward to doing business there.
Re: Singapore tells Facebook to correct post under new fake news law
#57Re: Singapore tells Facebook to correct post under new fake news law
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
Should people be allowed to say and write lies in a "real" democracy?
> Should people be allowed to say and write lies in a "real" democracy? Yes. In democracy, the public are the arbiters of truth. Particularly political truth. Free speech doesn’t mean consequence-free speech. Cooling-down periods, mandatory preservation and disclosure requirements, et cetera are both prudent and commonplace. Court-supervised anti-fraud statute, which punishes for the harm done by the lie, not the spe…
> In democracy, the public are the arbiters of truth. Particularly political truth.
Sadly, they are increasingly the arbiters of scientific truth. Part of me keeps expecting to hear some senator calling for the repeal of the law of gravity.
Re: Singapore tells Facebook to correct post under new fake news law
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
What are false things that have strong evidence behind them?
> What are false things that have strong evidence behind them? Eh, the history of science is littered with these. From early theories of vision involving beams cast out by our eyes [1] to phlogiston [2]. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emission_theory_(vision) [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phlogiston_theory
The difference being that science doesn’t consider truth a single absolute but a boundary on the body of knowledge. Old theorems are replaced by “truer” ones.
EDIT: autocorrect
Re: Singapore tells Facebook to correct post under new fake news law
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Should people be allowed to say and write lies in a "real" democracy? Yes. In democracy, the public are the arbiters of truth. Particularly political truth. Free speech doesn’t mean consequence-free speech. Cooling-down periods, mandatory preservation and disclosure requirements, et cetera are both prudent and commonplace. Court-supervised anti-fraud statute, which punishes for the harm done by the lie, not the spe…
One of the consequences might be that if you say a lie about someone else, they will sue you for libel. And in an ideal world, the lie would be discovered and you'd lose that suit. So asking a user on facebook to remove a lie, then asking facebook to remove that lie, sounds like a fair thing to do in a "real" democracy. > Governments should not have the power to silence their critics I agree completely, but we are ta…
In the US it is almost impossible for a public figure, especially a political figure, to win a libel lawsuit.
In theory, a deliberate, malicious false statement against a public figure would count as libel; but in practice basically everything is allowed. This prevents politicians from intimidating their critics with lawsuits.
EDITED TO ADD: In fact in the US there is pretty much a constant stream of false statements about every politician, and I can't recall any politician ever winning a libel case. Devin Nunes is trying currently, and basically making a fool of himself.