Lack of unified understanding on fake news, say experts

The Straits Times, page B3

Last Friday, Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam reiterated the point that satire will not fall foul of a new law to tackle falsehoods. But whether satire can be a form of "fake news" – as a widely slammed Media Literacy Council Facebook post suggested – is less settled, reflecting the need for a unified understanding, say analysts. The post, which went online on Sept 5 and was removed on Sept 8, highlighted six types of fake news: false context, imposter content, manipulated content, misleading content, clickbait and satire. On satire, Prof Ang Peng Hwa from NTU’s Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information said there is "always an element of subjectivity". "What exactly is or isn't satire will always be a judgment call," he said.