Singapore invokes 'fake news' law on false coronavirus death report

Taiwan seeks to evacuate its citizens from Wuhan; Philippines halts flights

20200127 Singapore mask coronavirus

A woman in Singapore wears a surgical mask while buying flowers just before the Lunar New Year celebration were set to begin, amid confirmed cases of coronavirus there. © AP

KENTARO IWAMOTO and LAULY LI, Nikkei staff writers

SINGAPORE/TAIPEI -- Just as Asian nations are scrambling to cope with the quickly-spreading new coronavirus thought to have originated in Wuhan, China, some unreliable news reports are complicating their efforts to contain the illness. 

Singapore's health ministry said Monday it had issued a correction directive to a website that reported a 66-year-old man had died from the Wuhan coronavirus in Singapore. It was the latest use of the country's "fake news" law, the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act.

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