Singapore
The articles are published to address, in general, “distortions, rumours, untruths, myths and smears”, the Minister for Communications and Information says.
Screengrab of the Government’s Factually website.
SINGAPORE: There have been 186 articles published on the Factually government website since its inception in May 2012, said Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim said in Parliament on Wednesday (Feb 28).
Dr Yaacob, in response to a parliamentary question by MP Sun Xueling, said articles on the website hosted on gov.sg are published on a “timely basis so prevailing falsehoods and misinformation are debunked as soon as possible”.
The site has debunked assertions on various matters ranging from savings and taxes to education and employment, and its articles target “DRUMS – distortions, rumours, untruths, myths and smears” – in particular, he added.
An example is in January this year, when there were several online articles that claimed the Government had raised the Central Provident Fund (CPF) retirement sum in a secret policy change. “In fact, the revised figures had been publicly announced in 2015 and was widely reported in the media,” the minister pointed out.
Another online rumour claimed that our public universities had reserved a minimum 20 per cent quota for foreign students when “no such policy exists”, he added.
Dr Yaacob mentioned that besides the written word, Factually also uses graphics for greater clarity on some topics and, in the coming year, will also explore the use of videos.
