SINGAPORE - Lebanese-Palestinian American comedian Sammy Obeid has been ordered to carry correction notices on social media posts he made on Aug 27, alleging that

two planned stand-up shows in Singapore were cancelled

due to government censorship.

The Pofma Office, which administers the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act, has been instructed by Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo to issue the correction direction under Singapore’s fake news law.

The Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) said on Sept 1 that Mr Obeid does not have to remove his posts on Facebook, Instagram, and X, but will need to carry the correction notices on them so readers have a link to the Government’s clarification.

MDDI also responded to Mr Obeid’s latest Instagram post on Aug 31, in which he denied lying.

“We are aware of claims based on the recording of a private conversation. IMDA was not part of that discussion. It never had any discussions — directly or indirectly — with Mr Obeid or his representatives about his script, and certainly never asked for any edits or removals,” MDDI said.

Mr Obeid’s Aug 31 post carried two video clips, one that showed an unidentified person telling Mr Obeid over the phone to remove “anything that has to do with Palestine and Israel”.

“They’ve given us until 3pm today,” the person is heard saying in the other video clip that was posted. This was after Mr Obeid agreed to making edits to his script for the Singapore shows.

The comedian did not say in his post when the videos were taken, nor did he identify the person on the phone.

MDDI said it was issuing the Pofma order as Mr Obeid’s claims risk causing serious misunderstanding, eroding public trust in IMDA’s licensing role and inflaming public sentiment on the crisis in Gaza, which is already a sensitive issue.

It added: “We know many Singaporeans care deeply about Gaza. We want to reassure everyone that this case was not about silencing anyone’s voice. Singaporeans will always have channels to express their views reasonably and constructively on Gaza and other important issues.”

The authorities have refuted Mr Obeid’s claims that he was made to go through multiple rounds of script editing that included instructions for him to remove mentions related to Israel and Palestine.

While he did not name the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) in his posts, Mr Obeid implied that it was the agency that asked for the edits.

Law Minister Edwin Tong on Aug 31

said the comedian’s account was “completely fictional”

, reiterating that the sole reason that Mr Obeid’s application for a performance permit was rejected was that it came in too late.

Applications must be submitted at least 40 working days prior to the performance. The comedian’s local representative submitted the application for his shows on Aug 15 - 10 working days before the performances were meant to be held at Victoria Theatre on Aug 31.

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