News or gossip

This article https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/some-people-spreading-fake-news-about-foreign-worker-dorms-to-incite-violence-shanmugam?utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=STFB&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR05SWzu-ZIgQHMQBNZq-DL2VCIQm_UpqOxSpqdT_e1-1gi65rRZQZZtiFo#Echobox=1588150773 in the StraitsTimes of Singapore earlier this week is both puzzling and worrying. Let me explain why…

Fake news can be annoying and dangerous, but who decides what is news and what is fake? If that is the government, what happens with freedom of speech and press?

When is news ‘news’ and when is it just gossip? When people meet in a café a lot of nonsense is often shared… that’s what social gathering is about. So how different is FaceBook or a WA group? Is that a place to gossip and share personal opinions or is what is posted there considered ‘news’ ?

Finally, the article talks about spreading fake news with malicious intent. So what defines malicous? And how do you know the intent behind most messages? Of course sometimes the intent of postings is clear but often it is not; posting is fast and immediate and people just blurt out whatever comes to mind.
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People need to be educated and the government should moderate and protect and could perhaps threaten and punish less. The question is “does a government trust it’s people?”. It should.