6/27/2013
Govt rebutting false or misleading information posted in social media
A new govt website ‘Follow us on @govsingapore or @e101singapore to #cutthruthehaze‘has started to rebut some of the information posted in social media that are deemed incorrect or not the right thing. Among the sites mentioned and with information that were rebutted or corrected by this new govt website are TRE, Facebook and The Heart Truths.
I would read this move by the Govt as a positive development in freedom of expression and freedom of the net. It also says that the Govt is serious about what were being posted in the media and in a way helping to raise the standard of social media. All media, main media and social media are prone to make mistakes now and then. And a better way of dealing with such mistake is to right it by informing the media source of the error, or as in this case putting up a site just for such a purpose. But this may not be very effective as not many people will purposely go to visit a site like this to read corrections or errors.
However, it beats having to legislate the social media with licence, fines and imprisonment and all the cumbersome legislative processes. And since a note to the editor of the offending media is so difficult to do so, well, this is ok then. MDA should have thought of this in the first place and avoid the big hue and cry by the netizens with the new regulations on licensing.
Now the Govt is talking. Isn’t this is what communication is all about? Just get any mistakes or errors corrected. No need to bring Sue into the picture.
It would also be nice for major social media sites to set up a section on errors printed in the main media. In this case, it is more meaningful as it is not common for main media to want to entertain social media for their honest mistakes or unintentional professional errors. It is more likely that such a request from the social media may end up in the waste bins.
Major websites like the TRE may want to set aside a column just for this purpose. It will be interesting to chalk up the errors of main media against the errors of unprofessional bloggers.
What do you think?
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3 comments:
Why does the Government needs a dedicated website to do correction? All the Official Media in print, telecast and broadcast are already reporting all the news and happenings factually and correctly, are they not? Maybe the Only Question left is whether the people believe in the accuracy and the integrity of the Official(Main) Media.
Totally agree with the ANNONYMOUS post above. The government does not understand that it has reached the lower depths of credibility with the population. This has arisen from a combination of factors: unobjective reporting by SPH, gahmen using only examples which build their case and giving incomplete answers, and the biggest hole they have fallen into: sheer lack of communications ability.
What this will lead to is to consolidate their position on tightening the new internet regulations, step by step.
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