Two countries, two approaches, one problem. Last Monday, Singapore proposed a controversial anti-falsehoods law on fake news to be debated in its parliament. The next day, WhatsApp in India launched a fact-checking service ahead of national elections, which start this week.
Both are attempts to solve a major issue: the rapid spread of untruths and fake news across social media, sparking social divisions. This is a problem that has caused serious divisions across the world, from Mumbai to Washington.
They are attempts from two different directions, in Singapore, the policy-led approach of regulating content, and in India, the tech approach of amending the platform.
In this delicate dance between technology and politics, countries around the world are watching to see who gets it right.
There is no widely accepted definition of fake news, which can range from outright lies and conspiracy theories, to misinformation or facts presented in a misleading way. But the harm it causes is real and quantifiable.
In India, there have been a spate of attacks dubbed the “WhatsApp lynchings”, where rumours of crimes, often child-abductions, spread on the messaging app and result in mob-violence towards individuals who later turn out to be innocent. Dozens have so far died and plenty more have been injured. Although WhatsApp is not a social network per se, WhatsApp groups can grow to hundreds of users and very rapidly spread messages. India is the app's largest market, with more than 200 million users.
Each country that has sought to tackle fake news has done so in response to its own particular social problems, and sought a solution in line with its political culture.
Singapore's anti-fake news law is a case in point. A small country of mixed ethnicities and faiths, the success of Singapore has always depended on a certain harmony among the different groups. It is the government's contention that fake news threatens to create splits.
The proposed law would give the government the ability to determine what is true and what is not – and then force companies like Facebook or Twitter to either amend the content – for example inserting a warning that the post is considered untrue – or remove it entirely, under threat of heavy fines. Meanwhile, individuals who spread fake news could face jail terms.
One of the reasons why Singapore's law has received so much attention is because the tech giants are concerned it could catch on. Singapore is not alone in Asia or across the world in seeking to regulate online content or creating laws that punish those who share misinformation.
Egypt signed into law its first piece of cyber crime legislation in September. Russia followed up with its own fake news law in mid-March. In January, the European Union warned tech giants such as Google and Twitter that if they did not do more to combat disinformation, they would face regulation.
But whereas broadly those two laws are aimed at individuals, the Singapore bill goes further, seeking to amend the social media platforms themselves.
In fact, the Singapore law follows a precedent set last November in France, where a law was passed that allows judges to force the removal of fake news from websites. That law was narrowly focused and only applies in the three months before elections, but it has set a precedent that even in liberal democracies the spread of fake news can be subject to legal restraint.
On the other side, tech giants are also trying to halt the spread of fake news themselves.
Last week, WhatsApp launched a service that allows Indian users to check whether information is accurate. The service, called Checkpoint Tipline, is run in collaboration with three other organisations and allows users to forward a message to the service and have it classified as accurate or not.
Yet the service has some immediate and glaring issues. It is only available in four regional Indian languages; India's constitution recognises twenty-two. When a news agency tested the service, the message remained unclassified two hours later, a life-time in fake news. It also relies on individuals to use it and believe the results. In the case of an individual facing mob justice for a rumour, it is hardly clear who might message the service and what the mob might make of the response.
And therein lies the broader problem of fake news.
If fake news were simply a question of agreeing on facts, then it could perhaps be solved. But the phenomenon of fake news is an amalgam of several broader issues: deep political divisions, a lack of trust in politics and the media, a desire to be part of a particular community, the psychology of how people believe things, and a technology that breaks down national and international borders.
Tech companies and policy specialists come at it from two different angles, each believing the problem can be solved with more technology or more policy.
Both have a strong imperative to solve it; policy-makers privilege social harmony, and some may want to curb divisive opinions, while tech companies are wary of the threat of more regulation or expensive legal action and prefer to solve it themselves.
But precisely because these issues have rapidly become part of the modern landscape of political discussion, they are not likely to be solved easily, neither through technology nor policy alone.
What is happening instead is a delicate dance between the two, each side trying, in different countries, to find an answer. The two methods, in Singapore and in India, will be watched closely, far beyond Asia, to see whether the ordered city-state or the chaotic democracy can get the balance right.
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
Sui Dhaaga: Made in India
Director: Sharat Katariya
Starring: Varun Dhawan, Anushka Sharma, Raghubir Yadav
3.5/5
Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
What are NFTs?
Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.
You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”
However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.
This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”
This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Directed by Sam Mendes
Starring Dean-Charles Chapman, George MacKay, Daniel Mays
4.5/5
LAST 16 DRAW
Borussia Dortmund v PSG
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The specs: 2018 Audi Q5/SQ5
Price, base: Dh183,900 / Dh249,000
Engine: 2.0L, turbocharged in-line four-cylinder / 3.0L, turbocharged V6
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic / Eight-speed automatic
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Fuel economy: combined 7.2L / 100km / 8.3L / 100km
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
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THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
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Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh132,000 (Countryman)
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Players Selected for La Liga Trials
U18 Age Group
Name: Ahmed Salam (Malaga)
Position: Right Wing
Nationality: Jordanian
Name: Yahia Iraqi (Malaga)
Position: Left Wing
Nationality: Morocco
Name: Mohammed Bouherrafa (Almeria)
Position: Centre-Midfield
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Position: Striker
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Water waste
In the UAE’s arid climate, small shrubs, bushes and flower beds usually require about six litres of water per square metre, daily. That increases to 12 litres per square metre a day for small trees, and 300 litres for palm trees.
Horticulturists suggest the best time for watering is before 8am or after 6pm, when water won't be dried up by the sun.
A global report published by the Water Resources Institute in August, ranked the UAE 10th out of 164 nations where water supplies are most stretched.
The Emirates is the world’s third largest per capita water consumer after the US and Canada.
Chef Nobu's advice for eating sushi
“One mistake people always make is adding extra wasabi. There is no need for this, because it should already be there between the rice and the fish.
“When eating nigiri, you must dip the fish – not the rice – in soy sauce, otherwise the rice will collapse. Also, don’t use too much soy sauce or it will make you thirsty. For sushi rolls, dip a little of the rice-covered roll lightly in soy sauce and eat in one bite.
“Chopsticks are acceptable, but really, I recommend using your fingers for sushi. Do use chopsticks for sashimi, though.
“The ginger should be eaten separately as a palette cleanser and used to clear the mouth when switching between different pieces of fish.”
Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage
Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid
Stars: Abdulaziz Almadhi, Mohammed Al Akkasi, Ali Al Suhaibani
Rating: 4/5
