SINGAPORE: Singapore’s announcement on Friday (Jul 19) that it has used its foreign interference law to shut down 95 social media accounts linked to a self-exiled Chinese billionaire is significant for several reasons.
First, it is the first time that account restrictions under the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act (FICA) have been implemented since the law was passed in October 2021.
Second, it sheds light on the murky world of information operations and hostile influence campaigns, which have become a growing threat to nations and governments worldwide.
The accounts revolve around Guo Wengui, a critic of China’s Communist Party who fled to the United States in 2015. He was convicted in the United States earlier this week for stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from his online followers.
Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) stated that the directives were issued after the network was identified and discovered to have disseminated misinformation across multiple social media and digital platforms.
According to MHA, this misinformation included claims that Singapore is “in the pocket of a foreign actor” who was “behind the scenes in the selection of Singapore’s fourth-generation leader”.
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