ISSUANCE OF GENERAL CORRECTION DIRECTION UNDER THE PROTECTION FROM ONLINE FALSEHOODS AND MANIPULATION ACT ON FALSEHOODS ON ALLEGED DEATH OF THREE-YEAR-OLD GIRL FROM COVID-19
15 August 2021
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The Ministry of Health (MOH) is aware of a false statement circulating online in a Facebook post by a user, Eileen Loh, on 14 August 2021, about a three-year-old preschooler who had allegedly passed away from COVID-19 at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH), and that the death was deliberately not reported.
2. The Minister for Health has instructed the POFMA Office to issue a General Correction Direction1 to Facebook. Facebook is required to carry the Correction Notice to all end-users in Singapore who use Facebook.
3. The Government takes a serious view of the deliberate communication of these false statements, and criminal investigations under POFMA will be conducted.
Corrections and clarifications regarding falsehoods on the alleged death of a three-year-old from COVID-19
4. As of 14 August, there has been no case of any child that has died from COVID-19 at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH) or any other hospital in Singapore.
Additional clarifications
5. The post also claimed that the “Delta Plus” variant of COVID-19 is now present in Singapore. As of 14 August, MOH has not identified the “Delta Plus” variant in any of Singapore’s known COVID-19 cases.
6. For facts of the case, please refer to the Factually article “Corrections and Clarifications Regarding Falsehoods on alleged death of three-year-old girl from COVID-19” at https://www.gov.sg/article/factually150821 (opens in new tab).
7. We urge the public not to spread unsubstantiated information, which may cause public alarm. Please visit www.moh.gov.sg (opens in new tab) for latest updates on the COVID-19 situation.
[1] A General Correction Direction is a Direction issued to prescribed Internet Intermediaries, prescribed telecom and broadcast licensees, and/or prescribed permit holders of the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act that would require them to communicate, publish, broadcast or transmit a correction notice to their users in Singapore. In this case, Facebook will be required to display a correction notice with a link to the facts to all Singapore Facebook users. This is to inform them that there was such a blatant fabrication circulating on the platform, which they may have come across.
