The $48 billion supplementary Budget will not go specifically to Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Temasek, said the Government yesterday as it invoked Singapore's fake news law against a Facebook user.

The Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma) office said yesterday that it has been instructed by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat to issue a correction direction against Facebook user tifinnytara.

On Sunday, the user posted on her Facebook page that almost one-third of the help set out in the supplementary Budget would go to SIA.

This is untrue, said the Government on its fact-checking website Factually.

SIA's $15 billion capital-raising effort, announced last Thursday, is not funded by the Government.

The Facebook user also claimed in the same post that the $17 billion to come from Singapore's past reserves would be ring-fenced for Temasek.

The measures drawing on the past reserves are for broad-based economy and sector-wide schemes. None is dedicated specifically to Temasek or Temasek-linked companies.

The Government said the $48.4 billion in the Budget would go towards supporting workers, helping enterprises overcome immediate challenges, and strengthening economic and social resilience.

Of this, $20 billion has been set aside for loan capital while $13.8 billion will be for the Jobs Support Scheme to provide wage support to employers to help them retain their local employees.

The scheme covers all sectors, with those that are severely impacted getting additional support.

Eligible individuals and households will also benefit from the Self-Employed Person Income Relief Scheme and the Care and Support Package.

Following the Pofma directive, the user must display a correction notice and provide access to the accurate information. The direction does not require the recipient to take down her post or make edits to her content, and does not impose criminal sanctions.

The Pofma office declined to say when the Facebook user has to comply with the correction direction.

The Straits Times has contacted tifinnytara for comment.

This is not the first time the law has been invoked to correct statements involving the coronavirus pandemic.

Last month, three Facebook users, including opposition politician and lawyer Lim Tean, were issued correction directions for alleging the People's Association (PA) and residents' committees (RCs) were involved in the organisation of an event that resulted in Singapore's largest coronavirus cluster.

In January, two Facebook accounts were issued correction directions after their posts claimed Woodlands MRT station was closed for disinfection because of a suspected Covid-19 case.

That month, SPH Magazines was also asked to correct an online post in the HardwareZone forum that falsely claimed a man in Singapore had died from the virus infection, while The States Times Review Facebook page was instructed to correct a post that claimed Singapore had run out of face masks.