According to a court hearing schedule, Bloomberg News and one of its reporters are in trouble as Singapore's law and home affairs minister and its manpower minister have filed defamation lawsuits against them.
In December, Manpower Minister Tan See Leng and Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam had threatened legal action, claiming that a Bloomberg piece on Singapore real estate that specifically named them was libellous.
However, Bloomberg refrained from commenting on the lawsuits on Wednesday, February 26. On March 3, the Supreme Court will hear the cases.
In December, the Singaporean government sent a "correction direction" to Bloomberg regarding the report, citing the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act. In compliance, the media outlet amended the original story and included a note stating that the correction was released "under threat of sanction" and that it stood by its reporting.
Prominent members of the ruling People's Action Party, including former prime ministers Lee Kuan Yew and Lee Hsien Loong, have successfully sued political rivals and the media for slander.
Lawyer Davinder Singh, a former member of the ruling party who has defended prior premiers in defamation cases, is representing Shanmugam and Tan. Reuters reported that a request for comment via email was not immediately answered by Singh.
