SG ministers sue Bloomberg

Manpower minister Tan See Leng has reportedly said in a court document that parts of a Bloomberg article are false, baseless and calculated to defame him. 

The minister had also pointed out sections of the article that were defamatory, including offending words of the article that suggested he "took advantage of there being no checks and balances or disclosure requirements in purchasing a property in a non-transparent manner", reported CNA. The words meant or are understood to falsely mean that the minister wanted to "hide his transaction and avoid scrutiny".

Don't miss: From boardroom to courtroom: Does comms have a say in the CDL family feud? 

In its defense, Bloomberg and the writer Low De Wei, reportedly maintained that the words were not defamatory, adding that as a news platform focused on reports relating to finance, markets and economics and that it has "no interest nor reason to, and did not in fact impugn the reputation of the ministers of the Singapore government", reported CNA. 

The Bloomberg article, titled "Singapore mansion deals are increasingly shrouded in secrecy", was first published on its website on 11 December 2024. It was later reposted on Bloomberg's Facebook and X accounts. The article was also republished in full by The Edge Singapore's website and its Facebook account on the same day too. 

In tandem, The Independent Singapore and The Online Citizen published articles commenting on the original Bloomberg piece. The pieces were published on their websites on 12 December, and on their social media pages.

On 23 December, the Singapore government issued a protection from online falsehood and manipulation act (POFMA) correction to all four publications relating to the articles and posts. Bloomberg posted the correction notice on its article and its social media posts but added that it "respectfully disagrees" with it. "Bloomberg respectfully disagrees with it and reserves its right to appeal and challenge the Correction Direction. We stand by our reporting," said Bloomberg.

Check by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE revealed that The Edge Singapore and The Independent Singapore have taken down the article. 

A case conference hearing is currently set for 11 March 2025 for ministers Tan See Leng and Shanmugam Kasiviswanathan and Bloomberg, MARKETING-INTERACTIVE understands.

This isn't the first time Bloomberg is facing the government. In August last year, the Hong Kong government slammed a Bloomberg report that quoted US firms saying they were concerned about the city’s proposed new legislation to enhance the cybersecurity of critical infrastructures. The Hong Kong government described the report as biased and taking the views of the submissions out of context. 

Related articles:  
LinkedIn sued for training AI models using customer information 
HK slams Bloomberg report on the city's new cybersecurity rules  
CASETiFY sued over copyright controversy: How brands can better champion originality