Indian-origin Singaporean blogger fined for inciting disharmony with TikTok post

Singapore, Jun 6 (PTI) An Indian-origin blogger in Singapore was fined SGD 6,000 (about Rs 4 lakh) on Friday after he pleaded guilty to one charge of knowingly committing an act which promoted disharmony between different racial groups in the country through a post on TikTok.

Manmeet Singh's post came after he received a link from an unknown person with the alleged offensive content, Channel News Asia reported.

Singh, 57, then posted a commentary about the content without verifying its authenticity.

In the commentary on TikTok, Singh claimed that Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo had made offensive remarks against Malays, a mostly Muslim community which accounts for about 15 per cent of Singapore’s six million-plus population.

He removed it once he realised that he had been "led on" by the unknown person, his lawyers told the court.

Singh is a blogger who posts about socio-political issues on TikTok, among other social media platforms.

He posted the offending content on TikTok on August 12, 2024.

The blog post alleged that Teo, when asked about racial progress during an interview with Chinese media on Singapore's 59-year development, had made an offensive remark against Malays last year. Teo is of Chinese descent.

At the time of the offences, Singh's TikTok account had around 9,054 followers. The video prompted Teo's colleagues and a reporter to ask the minister about it.

Around four hours after the video was published, Teo told her press secretary about it. The press secretary then downloaded a copy of the video and lodged a police report.

Later that day, Singh suspected the allegations were false and removed the TikTok video. He then posted another video in which he apologised to Teo, noting that his previous allegation was probably false. Singh was arrested on February 4, 2025, and released on bail the next day.

The defence lawyers said that Singh was "racked with guilt" over his actions.

"Manmeet is not in the business of making his videos for profit or clout. His content is akin to an extension of himself and his views, which he shares because he feels responsible for raising awareness," said the lawyers.

Singh has since "deliberately steered clear of associating with other politicians to avoid controversy", the lawyers said. He also actively vets his news sources.

For promoting racial disharmony, Singh could have been jailed for up to three years, fined, or both. PTI