Netizens can sieve out falsehoods most times, but govt action needed in emergencies: NTU lecturers
The Straits Times - http://www.straitstimes.com/politics/netizens-can-sieve-out-falsehoods-most-times-but-government-action-needed-in-emergencies
The local online citizenry is savvy enough to detect online falsehoods most of the time, but some situations warrant government intervention. On a normal day, “low-level online trolling” can be quite easily dismissed by local netizens, Asst Prof Liew Kai Khiun from NTU’s Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information told the Select Committee on deliberate online falsehoods yesterday. However, in an emergency such as an epidemic outbreak or riot, or a major event such as an election, the Government should step in “as a lifeguard”, he said, adding that it should issue take-down notices of falsehoods and keep close tabs on those who create such fake news. Prof Liew also said such steps should not be taken quietly as they could fan conspiracy theories and suspicion, but should be publicised. Assoc Prof Alton Chua also said, “The taking down itself cannot be done in isolation of other measures. It has to be publicised on mainstream media. It has to be interpreted in the larger context of what we value as a society.-Similar report in Channel NewsAsia online, 28 Mar.
