Indian-origin blogger fined for falsely accusing Singapore minister of making racial remarks on TikTok
An Indian-origin blogger in Singapore was reportedly fined SGD 6,000 (almost ₹4 lakh) for promoting disharmony between different racial groups in the country.
Manmeet Singh, 57, had in a post on TikTok accused Josephine Teo, Singapore's minister for digital development and information, of making racial remarks against Malays, mostly a Muslim community.
Manmeet Singh was arrested for the offence on February 4, 2025, and was released after being granted bail in the case later the same day, according to news agency PTI. He pleaded guilty to having knowingly promoted disharmony between racial groups.
Singh's lawyers told the court that the blogger, who makes content on socio-political issues on TikTok, was 'led on' by an unknown person.
Singh was allegedly sent a link by an unidentified person, which allegedly had the content that led to him making the video on Teo, according to Channel News Asia.
In his post, Manmeet Singh claimed that Teo had offensive statements against Malays, who comprise 15 per cent of the population of Singapore, the PTI report stated. The country's population is more than six million at present.
Manmeet Singh alleged that Teo had made the remarks when he was inquired about racial progress during an interview with Chinese media on Singapore's development. Teo is of Chinese descent.
However, Manmeet Singh, who had more than 9,000 followers when he made the post, did not verify the authenticity of the information before releasing the content, thus landing him in trouble. His lawyers submitted before the court that the blogger had removed the content as soon as he realised he had been 'led on' by someone, as per PTI.
Singh's post came to Teo's attention when her colleagues and a media reporter asked her about the video, following which the Singapore minister informed her press secretary about it.
Teo's press secretary then downloaded the video and lodged a police complaint regarding the content. Singh deleted his video later the same day and apologised to Teo, admitting that the claims he had made were false.
The blogger's counsels further said that he was 'racked with guilt' because of the matter, adding that he has deliberately avoided making videos on politicians since then.
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