Media Literacy Glossary: 50 Key Terms for Singapore Readers

Do not share it. Forward it to 7726 (SPAM) and delete it. The Singapore Police Force reported 51,501 scam cases in 2024, with losses totalling SGD 1.07 billion. That single forwarded message could be one of them. This glossary defines the 50 most important terms you need to recognise falsehoods, understand local laws, and use verification tools before you share anything.

Media literacy is the ability to judge whether a claim, image, video or message is true, not whether it feels true. It is a set of practised habits, not a political stance. The thing newcomers most often get wrong is believing that being sceptical means distrusting everything equally. In practice it means knowing which specific questions to ask and which tools to trust for the answer.

Singapore has 96% internet penetration among residents aged 15 and over, and 84.7% of the population uses social media. WhatsApp alone reaches an estimated 87.7% of internet users aged 16 to 64, according to the Digital 2024 Singapore report by We Are Social and Meltwater, making the forwarded-as-received message the primary vector for misinformation in the country. You cannot verify a claim in a language you do not speak, but you can learn the vocabulary that tells you when to stop and check.

Before you learn the tools, you need the language that describes what you are up against. These are the definitions that separate a sceptical reader from a confused one.

Misinformation, Disinformation And Malinformation

Misinformation is false claims shared without intent to deceive. Your aunt forwards a health warning she believes is real; that is misinformation. Disinformation is false claims created and shared with deliberate intent to harm. A scammer fabricates an MOH advisory to steal banking details; that is disinformation. Malinformation is genuine details shared with intent to cause harm, such as publishing someone's address to encourage harassment. The difference is the creator's intent, which you as the recipient often cannot know. That is why you verify the claim itself, not the motive.

Deepfake vs. Cheapfake

A deepfake is AI-generated synthetic media that replaces a person's face or voice. Generative AI tools such as Midjourney, DALL-E and Sora create photorealistic outputs that are the raw material of many modern false claims. A cheapfake is media altered with simple tools: slowing down video, cropping out context, or mislabelling an old photo. The distinction is the method of fabrication, not the intent. Both can deceive, but a cheapfake does not require artificial intelligence, just a video editor and bad faith.

Phishing And Spoofed SMS

Phishing is the broader category of fraudulent harvesting of personal data. A spoofed SMS is one delivery mechanism where the sender ID is faked to appear as a legitimate organisation. All spoofed SMS used for fraud is phishing, but not all phishing is SMS. Phishing arrives via email, messaging apps, phone calls and even QR codes. The Singapore Police Force reports that phishing scams were a top category in 2024, and the recommended reporting shortcode is 7726 (SPAM) for scam SMS.

Echo Chamber And Algorithmic Curation

An echo chamber is an online environment where a person encounters only material that reinforces their existing views. Algorithmic curation is the process by which platforms select what to show you, optimising for engagement rather than accuracy. Platforms popular in Singapore such as TikTok, WhatsApp, Telegram and Xiaohongshu all use algorithmic curation. The result is that your feed reflects what keeps you watching, not what is true.

Digital Footprint vs. Digital Shadow

A digital footprint is data you actively leave: posts, uploads, comments. A digital shadow is data collected about you passively: browsing history, location tracking, data broker profiles. The distinction is active versus passive data generation. Material posted online may be archived, screenshotted or indexed even after deletion. That permanence is a structural property of digital data, not a setting you can toggle off.

Blocking vs. Muting

Blocking prevents an account from seeing or interacting with your posts. Muting removes their posts from your view without their knowledge. The confused outcome is thinking you have cut off contact when you have only hidden it from yourself. If someone is harassing you, blocking is the appropriate action. Muting is for accounts you do not want to see but do not need to confront.

Fact-checking is the process of verifying a specific claim against primary sources and publishing the verdict with evidence. Singapore has several local sources you can trust.

Lateral Reading

Lateral reading is the core verification behaviour: opening new browser tabs to check the source and claims rather than staying on the original page. The Stanford History Education Group developed this method for its Civic Online Reasoning curriculum in 2019. When you receive a forwarded message, do not read down the page to see if it looks convincing. Open a new tab and search for the claim, the organisation named, and the official website of the authority cited.

Reverse Image Search

A reverse image search finds where an image has appeared before online. Use Google Lens, TinEye or Yandex Images to upload a suspicious photo. The principle is durable: check whether an image has appeared before in a different context. A photo of a crowded hospital corridor may be from a different country or a different year entirely.

Click Restraint

Click restraint means scanning search results before clicking to avoid promoted or misleading links. The first result is often an advertisement or a site optimised for search engines, not the most authoritative source. Scroll past the first few results and look for government domains, established news organisations, and fact-checking sites.

The S.U.R.E. Framework

The S.U.R.E. framework stands for Source, Understand, Research, Evaluate. It is the National Library Board's four-step method taught in Singapore schools and libraries. Source means identifying who created the claim. Understand means checking whether the claim makes sense. Research means looking for corroboration from independent sources. Evaluate means making a judgement based on the evidence. This framework does not depend on any specific technology and is embedded in Singapore's curriculum.

The SIFT Method

The SIFT method, created by Mike Caulfield in 2017, has four steps: Stop, Investigate the source, Find better coverage, and Trace claims to original context. Stop before you share. Investigate the source by opening a new tab. Find better coverage from a trusted news outlet or official source. Trace the claim to its original context, because a screenshot may be missing the caption that made it satire.

Satire vs. Deceptive Falsehood

Satire is material created with artistic or comedic intent that an audience is expected to recognise as exaggeration. A deceptive falsehood is presented as fact. The confusion arises when satire is stripped of context and recirculated as news. A screenshot of a satirical article without the publication's name or the 'satire' label becomes a false claim.

Source	Type	Methodology Disclosure	Language Coverage
Factually (gov.sg)	Government fact-checking portal	Yes	English, Malay, Mandarin, Tamil
Black Dot Research	Independent fact-checking organisation	Yes; IFCN signatory since 2023	English
CheckMate (The Straits Times)	Newspaper fact-checking column	Yes	English
Sure Anot (CNA)	News channel fact-checking segment	Yes	English

The Singapore Police Force Anti-Scam Command centralises investigation and publishes scam typologies that persist across specific tactics. The top scam type by number of cases in 2024 was e-commerce scams with 14,851 cases. The top scam type by amount lost was investment scams at SGD 288.4 million. The categories you need to recognise are job scams, phishing scams, e-commerce scams, investment scams, impersonation scams and love scams.

Impersonation Scam

An impersonation scam is a variant where the perpetrator poses as a government official, bank officer or family member to extract money or data. The officialdom halo effect makes these effective: a message using a government logo, official-sounding language or a .gov.sg-like URL appears legitimate. Check the official website or social media account of the agency named. If no such advisory was issued, the claimed authority never made the statement.

ScamShield App And Hotline

ScamShield is a Singapore app and hotline that blocks scam calls and SMS using a known-scam database. It was launched in November 2020 by the National Crime Prevention Council and the Singapore Police Force. The developer is Open Government Products, part of GovTech Singapore. The iOS version launched in November 2020; the Android version arrived in September 2024. The ScamShield hotline number is 1799. The app blocks scam calls and SMS, not malware. It is not a substitute for antivirus software, which detects malicious code on your device.

The ACT Campaign

The national anti-scam campaign is called ACT: Add, Check, Tell. Add the ScamShield app. Check for signs of scams such as unsolicited requests for personal details or payment. Tell the authorities and your family about potential scams. The campaign was launched in 2023 by the National Crime Prevention Council.

Phishing Reporting Channels

Report phishing to SingCERT at [email protected]. For scam SMS, forward to 7726 (SPAM). The Singapore Cyber Security Agency recommends using an app-based authenticator or hardware token over SMS for two-factor authentication. Do not click links in unsolicited messages, even if they appear to come from a trusted organisation.

Understanding Singapore's digital landscape means knowing what the law requires and what tools exist to protect you.

POFMA: Protection From Online Falsehoods And Manipulation Act

POFMA is a Singapore statute that governs correction of online falsehoods. It came into force on 2 October 2019 and is administered by the Ministry of Digital Development and Information. The law issues legally binding Correction Directions that require the publication of a correction alongside the original falsehood. A POFMA direction is not the same as a fact-check article, though both address falsehoods. The distinction is legal enforceability: POFMA directions carry a penalty for non-compliance. For individuals, the penalty is a fine up to SGD 50,000 or imprisonment up to 5 years, or both. For non-individuals, the fine can reach SGD 1,000,000. The POFMA Office website is www.pofmaoffice.gov.sg. In 2024, the office issued 22 orders. The law distinguishes between correction directions and takedown directions, and there is a right of appeal to the High Court.

PDPA: Personal Data Protection Act

The Personal Data Protection Act 2012 commenced on 2 July 2014 and is administered by the Personal Data Protection Commission. The Act has nine core obligations: consent, purpose limitation, notification, access and correction, protection, retention limitation, transfer limitation and accountability. The minimum age for valid consent is 13 years, as per the PDPC Advisory Guidelines revised on 28 March 2024. Data breach notification must be made to the PDPC within three calendar days of assessment. The maximum financial penalty is SGD 1,000,000 or 10% of annual turnover in Singapore, whichever is higher. The Do Not Call Registry is also administered by the PDPC.

OCHA: Online Criminal Harms Act 2023

The Online Criminal Harms Act 2023 commenced on 1 February 2024 and is administered by the Ministry of Home Affairs. It provides a framework for dealing with online material that facilitates criminal conduct. This is a separate legal mechanism from POFMA and addresses different types of harm.

Reporting To Platform vs. Reporting To Police

Platform reporting flags material for removal under a platform's terms of service. A police report initiates a legal process under Singapore law. They are different processes with different outcomes and evidentiary requirements. Reporting a scam message to WhatsApp does not trigger a police investigation. Use the Singapore Police Force's SHIELD platform at www.police.gov.sg/shield for reporting online harm.

Digital For Life Programme

The national digital literacy programme is called Digital for Life, launched by the Infocomm Media Development Authority in 2021. It has over 300 partners and SGD 10 million was allocated for community projects in 2024. The Media Literacy Council was dissolved in 2021 and its functions were subsumed under Digital for Life.

The research identifies eleven specific failure modes that cause people to share false claims. Recognising them is the first step to avoiding them.

Source Confusion And The Officialdom Halo

Source confusion means believing a claim because the person who forwarded it is trusted, without checking whether that person is the original source. Social trust overrides your verification reflex. The officialdom halo amplifies this: a message using a government logo or .gov.sg-like URL appears genuine. Scammers exploit both by impersonating authorities.

Verification Bypass And Recency Bias

Verification bypass means sharing a claim with a comment like 'is this true?' without waiting for an answer, thereby amplifying the claim before verification. The speed and frictionlessness of the share button cause this. Recency bias means believing a claim because it references a current event or uses fresh-looking screenshots, without checking whether the underlying details are old or fabricated. The emotional urgency of 'breaking' news overrides your judgement.

Tool Over-Trust And The AI Realism Trap

Tool over-trust means uploading an image to a single AI-detection tool and treating the result as definitive, without understanding the tool's error rate. Independent testing shows false positive rates high enough to falsely flag human writing as AI-generated, especially for non-native English writers. The AI realism trap means believing an image or video is authentic because it looks real, without considering that AI generation can now produce photorealistic synthetic media. No AI detection tool is endorsed by the Singapore Cyber Security Agency as of 2025.

Correction Blindness And Single-Source Settlement

Correction blindness means seeing a fact-check or correction but dismissing it because it comes from a source you distrust. The same motivated reasoning that makes misinformation stick also makes corrections bounce off. Single-source settlement means accepting a claim as true after finding one source that confirms it, without checking whether that source is independent or whether other sources disagree. The cognitive effort required for lateral reading makes this the default behaviour for most people.

Emotional Override And Platform Equivalence Error

Emotional override means sharing a claim because it provokes anger, fear or hope, with the emotional response short-circuiting the verification step. Material designed to provoke strong emotion is deliberately engineered to bypass your critical thinking. Platform equivalence error means assuming that reporting a piece of material to a platform and making a police report are equivalent actions with equivalent outcomes. They are not. Platform reporting enforces terms of service; police reporting initiates a legal process.

The most common mistake is believing that being sceptical means distrusting everything equally. It does not. It means knowing which specific questions to ask and which tools to trust for the answer. A person who distrusts all sources equally has no method for choosing between a government fact-check portal and a forwarded message with a logo pasted on it. The habit that separates effective media literacy from cynicism is lateral reading: leaving the original material to check the source, claims and context before believing or sharing. That method works regardless of platform, regardless of language, and regardless of whether the claim is true or false. Without it, the vocabulary in this glossary is just words. With it, you have a repeatable process that works on any claim, from any source, at any time.