The Singaporean parliament voted to give the government special powers to combat fake news on Wednesday, despite complaints from activists and journalists.

Under the new law, ministers would be able to give orders to platforms like Facebook and Twitter to put up warnings next to disputed posts. In extreme cases, the networks could be ordered to take the content down. The law also allows for fines of up to SG$1 million ($734,000; €656,000) for companies that fail to comply.

Individual offenders could face up to 10 years in prison.

Reporters' associations and activist groups slammed the bill as an attempt at censorship.

Read more: Top 10 'most urgent' attacks on press freedom for May 2019

The law "gives the Singapore authorities unchecked powers to clamp down on online views of which it disapproves," said Nicholas Bequelin, Amnesty International's regional director for East and Southeast Asia.

"It criminalizes free speech and allows the government almost unfettered power to censor dissent," he added. "It doesn't even provide any real definition of what is true or false or, even more worrying, 'misleading.'"

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'We are talking about bots'

The rich island country of 5.6 million people is known for maintaining a tight grip on the media. Reporters Without Borders rates it 151st of 180 countries in its press freedom ranking, which is three spots below Venezuela and two above Belarus.

Addressing the parliament on Tuesday, Singaporean Minister of Law and Home Affairs K. Shanmugam said free speech would not be affected.

"We are talking about bots... trolls... fake accounts and so on," he said.

The government has long insisted that posting "corrections" next to alleged fake news would be the preferred response, not fines and jail terms.

"Tech companies will say many things to try and advocate their position," Shanmugam said. "We have to show them we are fair, but also firm."

The term "fake news" first claimed international spotlight in mid-2016, following the Brexit vote in the UK and ahead of the US election, which saw Donald Trump take the office of president. Several countries have since passed laws to combat the phenomenon.

dj/jm (AFP, Reuters)

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