CNA Explains: Why Singapore is a prime target for disinformation campaigns
Résumé détaillé
A false secret meeting with Singapore’s ambassador to Indonesia was the latest of several cases investigated by CNA Verify. Who spreads such claims and how do they do it?
A false secret meeting with Singapore’s ambassador to Indonesia was the latest of several cases investigated by CNA Verify. Who spreads such claims and how do they do it?
SINGAPORE: In late October, close to 400 posts across multiple social media platforms spread false theories about Singapore’s hand in Indonesia’s affairs. From late 2025 to mid-2026, about 500 TikTok clips fabricated claims of China holding the key to Singapore’s fortunes.
And at the start of the year, it was reported that nearly 300 YouTube videos were found attacking Singapore and its Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, with made-up tales of political and economic turmoil.
These are examples of how Singapore has been targeted in recent cases investigated by CNA Verify. All were judged to be disinformation, not misinformation.
Both forms involve false or misleading content. The difference is intent: Misinformation is shared without meaning to deceive, while disinformation is created and spread on purpose, to try and cause harm.
In the Indonesian case, experts said “buzzers” may have been involved.
These are people paid to go on social media to push messages, drown out other views, and repost and comment en masse to make a narrative look more popular than it is. The practice dates back to at least 2012.
The name “comes out of the idea that … they’re making noise online”, Indonesia researcher Ross Tapsell from the Australian National University told The Guardian in August. “In the way that lots of small insects put together make a really big ambient noise.”
Observers have warned that these tightly organised, mostly anonymous and mostly freelancing buzzers have the effect of stoking anger and deepening divisions in society.
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