SINGAPORE: A 59-year-old man has been charged in court docket for allegedly spreading false info on TikTok, marking what seems to be the primary felony prosecution below the Safety from On-line Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA).
Jay Ish’haq Rajoo was charged on March 11 with speaking false statements of truth on-line. He additionally faces separate prices for defamation and for making an attempt to stir in poor health will between racial teams. The accusations relate to a number of TikTok movies he posted between 2023 and 2025.
The movies allegedly included deceptive claims about voting secrecy, Central Provident Fund (CPF) insurance policies, and the affordability of Housing and Growth Board (HDB) flats. One video posted in August 2023 allegedly urged that Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s determination to appoint Lucien Wong as Legal professional-Common mirrored nepotism and a battle of curiosity. Prosecutors say the declare was defamatory, Channel NewsAsia (CNA) stories.
Authorities had beforehand taken motion in opposition to Rajoo. The POFMA Workplace and the Singapore Police Pressure issued him 24-month conditional warnings in 2024 after he did not adjust to correction instructions linked to earlier on-line posts. A conditional warning requires the recipient to keep away from additional offences through the specified interval. Prosecutors say Rajoo breached that warning by way of a TikTok video posted in 2025.
The August 2025 video allegedly claimed that Minister for Nationwide Growth Chee Hong Tat had introduced plans to deliver mainland Chinese language people to Singapore and groom them for management roles. The video additionally claimed that authorities sources have been used solely to nurture leaders from the Chinese language race. Authorities stated these claims have been false. Rajoo was issued one other POFMA order in September 2025 over the video.
Because the 2025 publish allegedly violated the sooner warning, prosecutors additionally proceeded with felony prices tied to the sooner movies, which have been deemed to unfold misinformation and incite public unrest. Rajoo instructed the court docket he intends to have interaction a lawyer. The case will return to court docket on April 8.
If convicted of speaking false statements of truth below POFMA, he might be fined as much as S$50,000, imprisoned for as much as 5 years, or each. A conviction for defamation carries a potential jail time period of as much as two years, a high-quality, or each. The cost associated to selling in poor health will between racial teams carries a most penalty of three years’ jail, a high-quality, or each.
POFMA, launched in 2019, has principally been used to challenge correction orders requiring on-line posts to hold authorities clarifications.
In March 2022, Wake Up Singapore (WUSG) was issued a POFMA correction route after publishing a declare {that a} affected person had a miscarriage following a protracted wait at KK Ladies’s and Kids’s Hospital. Investigations later discovered the allegation to be false, and the case finally led to felony defamation prices.
WUSG founder Ariffin Iskandar Sha Ali Akbar was fined S$8,000 in August 2024 for a false declare made by a Myanmar girl that was posted on the WUSG platform with out correct verification. Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon allowed Mr Ariffin’s admission to the Bar in August 2025, stating that Mr Ariffin had admitted duty, apologised to the hospital, retracted the article, and cooperated with investigations. The court docket then discovered the offence stemmed from a failure to confirm the declare reasonably than deliberate dishonesty, a Channel NewsAsia (CNA) report revealed.
In June 2025, in one other POFMA case, The On-line Citizen’s web site and social media pages have been once more designated as “Declared On-line Areas” below POFMA, stopping the platform from receiving monetary advantages from working its pages for an extra two years. Authorities stated the transfer was crucial as a result of the positioning had continued to speak falsehoods on points such because the dying penalty and authorities social help insurance policies.
This current case involving a person, Jay Ish’haq Rajoo, a TikToker, a case that’s believed to be the primary of its type, means that repeated offences, particularly after official warnings, may lead authorities to escalate enforcement past correction notices.
