Montfort 4E5N SS Prelim 2022

[Turn over Name: ______________________________ ( ) Class: _______ Secondary 4 Express / 5 Normal (Academic) HUMANITIES 2272/01 2273/01 Paper 1 Social Studies 26 August 2022 (Fri) 08.15 am 1 hour 45 minutes READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST Write your name, class and register number in the spaces provided on the cover page and the work that you hand in. Write in dark blue or black pen. Write all your answers in the writing paper provided. Do not use staples, paper clips, glue or correction fluid. At the end of the examination, fasten all your work securely together. Section A Answer all questions. Section B Answer both questions. The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question. This document consists of 7 printed pages and 1 blank page. Setter: Ms Jamie Low and Ms Kavitha MONTFORT SECONDARY SCHOOL PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION 2022

2 4E5N Prelim 2022 Section A (Source-Based Case Study) Answer all questions. Exploring Citizenship and Governance Study the Background Information and the sources carefully, and then answer all the questions. You may use any of the sources to help you answer the questions, in addition to those sources which you are told to use. In answering the questions, you should use your knowledge of the issue to help you interpret and evaluate the sources. 1 Study Source A. What is the author’s attitude towards POFMA? Explain your answer using details from the source. [6] 2 Study Sources B and C. How far does Source C prove that Source B’s comments about POFMA is justified? Explain your answer. [7] 3 Study Source D. Are you surprised by Source D? Explain your answer. [7] 4 Study Source E. Why did the French President make these comments ? Explain your answer. [5] 5 ‘Passing legislation is the best way to combat fake news.’ Using the sources in this case study, explain how far you would agree with this statement. [10]

3 4E5N Prelim 2022 [Turn over How can we control the spread of fake news in the digital age? BACKGROUND INFORMATION Read this carefully. It may help you to answer some of the questions. Fake news is any news or story that is created to deliberately misinform or deceive readers and viewers. With content being easily spread via social media platforms, and with access to easy-to-use editing tools, fake news has become increasingly pervasive. Fake news can cause public health scares, sow discord within various groups in society, and cause valuable time and resources to be wasted. As such, governments around the world have taken steps to curb the spread of fake news such as passing legislation. There have also been calls for social media companies and internet service providers to take more active steps to limit the spread of fake news on their platforms. There are also others who believe it should be the individual’s responsibility as social media users. Study the following sources to find out how we can control the spread of fake news in the digital age.

4 4E5N Prelim 2022 Source A: Cartoon about POFMA, which refers to Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act, which was passed by the Singapore government in 2019 to combat fake news. Under this Act, the government can issue a notice to people or websites to stop the publication of the fake news or face legal action. This cartoon was posted on Twitter, May 2019. Source B: Comments made by Singapore’s Law Minister on POFMA. His comments were published on Channel NewsAsia, June 2020. POFMA does not disadvantage the opposition but instead, encourages greater democracy. You can be as hard as you like on the Government and their policies in your viewpoints. You can offer counter policies. POFMA cannot apply to any of that. All POFMA requires is for you to put up a “health warning” that what you have said is untrue, followed by adding a link to a government website , which provides clarification by the government and factual information. People read what you have written. People read what the Government says. Then, they decide for themselves. Thus, it doesn’t disadvantage you. This actually encourages greater democracy because it encourages more information. You can argue censorship only if your article is taken down, which POFMA does not do.

5 4E5N Prelim 2022 [Turn over Source C: Comments made by Dr Janil Puthucheary, Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information. He was speaking at an international conference on tackling disinformation, January 2022. More than two years after laws to counter fake news kicked in, it is clear that the legislation does not curtail opinions and criticisms or civil society's involvement in public debate. Those who have received POFMA orders have continued to air their views online. The public is even actively writing to the office that administers this legislation, to flag potential falsehoods or to check on an issue. Having said that, it is also important to nurture an informed public that can sensibly evaluate information. People should be taught how to do research correctly and be more critical towards information we find online, instead of cherry-picking information that is aligned with their own beliefs. The third strategy would be to encourage a fact -checking ecosystem. Technology companies have the resources to provide and create capabilities to detect falsehoods and check the accuracy of the information on their platforms. Source D: Comments made by a writer from the International Centre for Journalists, which is a non-profit organisation that promotes journalism worldwide. His comments were published on an online website, August 2020. Laws are being misused to justify crackdowns on legitimate speech in a number of countries. There are circumstances where journalists have been detained and fined, for example, in reference to reports that have been critical of government and that are deemed to be ‘fake news’ because they do not suit the government. Even if the laws are sincerely aimed at dealing with fake news, they may violate human rights. For example, doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers cannot speak publicly about failures of the system even though it is in the public interest to do so. They are afraid of being jailed on so -called ‘anti -fake news’ laws because the government equates criticism with fake news.

6 4E5N Prelim 2022 Source E: Comments made by the French President on a new law passed by the French parliament. This new law empowers judges to order the immediate removal of "fake news" during election campaigns . The comments were published on French national newspapers, November 2018. Foreign countries trying to interfere in our national politics can easily spread propaganda against the government. In the previous elections, Russia successfully planted false information through the use of fake social media accounts. We must know how to protect ourselves against foreign interference. People spreading fake news online should be held accountable and possibly brought to justice. These n ew laws would allow internet platforms, influencers and people getting attention online to be held accountable in France, just like journalists are. Source F: Excerpt of an article by Erics