Ex-Reform Party member issues public apology for spreading false statements about Shanmugam

SINGAPORE — A former Reform Party member has apologised to Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam, admitting that he had published false statements about the latter's alleged "extramarital affair".

In an apology note entitled “Apology and Undertaking”, Mr Thaddeus Thomas said: “I admit that I intended to put up these falsehoods and acknowledge that those statements are false and completely without foundation.” 

The apology was first posted on TikTok on Dec 21, 2023, under the user “thaddeusthomas81”, and on Facebook on Dec 25, as “Thaddeus Thomas”.

Mr Thomas continued in his note: “I regret my actions and apologise unreservedly to Mr K Shanmugam for making the false and libellous statements on my TikTok post. I admit that I received advice and encouragement to put up my false post and regret listening to this advice.”

Mr Thomas also said that he had “intentionally ignored” a letter sent by Mr Shanmugam's lawyers on Aug 25 to his Facebook account via Facebook Messenger as he thought that Mr Shanmugam’s team would not be able to identify him. 

Mr Thomas said that he only replied to Mr Shanmugam on Nov 30, after he read in a Straits Times article that the minister had applied for court orders to compel TikTok to disclose user information about him.

In the note, Mr Thomas also said Mr Shanmugam has “kindly agreed” to his request not to ask for damages despite his “scurrilous allegations”. 

Mr Thomas said he would also foot the legal costs incurred by Mr Shanmugam. 

TODAY was the first to report on Mr Shanmugam filing a civil lawsuit against social media giant TikTok for failing to assist him in identifying three users who had each allegedly uploaded a video spreading false allegations about him.

On Aug 13, a TikTok user with the username "@trusted.selller" allegedly uploaded a video that contained two images with the caption "GIVE HIM A DEFAMATION SUIT SISTER #MINISTER #SG #VIRAL #EXWIFE".

The images were of two screenshots, one of which appeared to be a Facebook page that responded to the search term "k shanmugam ex wife" and displayed an image of Mr Shanmugam and his former wife.

The other was a screenshot of a forum post that contained allegations against Mr Shanmugam and was attributed to a "Former Mrs K. Shanmugam".

Two days later, another TikTok user with the username "@tharakhussin" purportedly uploaded a video containing an image of a Facebook post that featured an article published by celebscritic.com, which included false and defamatory statements about Mr Shanmugam.

The video did not directly link back to the article, but it displayed the headline in full, highlighting Mr Shanmugam's alleged extramarital affair with Member of Parliament (MP) Foo Mee Har.

The third TikTok user went by the username "@thaddeusthomas81" and had allegedly posted a video on Aug 17, which was purported to be about the minister. It had the caption, "Clarifications and a look at who is the wife and alleged mistress".

The video also contained an image, among others, of Ms Foo with the words "alleged affair with MP Foo Mee Har".

To clarify the false allegations, Mr Shanmugum said on his Facebook account on Aug 15 that an imposter wrote the allegations attributed to his former wife and that his ex-wife had told him she did not write them. 

The minister also said at the time that the allegations of his supposed affair with an MP were "false and baseless".

Mr Thomas said in his apology note that the TikTok post and any copies have been removed. 

“I undertake not to publish any further statements on this, or to make any allegations to the same or similar effect, in any manner whatsoever,” he said. 

https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/ex-reform-party-member-issues-public-apology-spreading-false-statements-about-shanmugam-2335336

Shanmugam seeks court order requiring TikTok to name users who posted 'false, baseless' claims of extramarital affair

SINGAPORE: Social media giant TikTok is facing a civil lawsuit from Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam after it failed to assist Mr Shanmugam in identifying three users who had each allegedly uploaded a video spreading false allegations about him.

On Tuesday (Nov 28), TODAY obtained copies of three affidavits filed by Mr Shanmugam's lawyers from WongPartnership, which detailed the allegations that he has repeatedly dismissed as "false and baseless". 

The affidavits were filed in support of Mr Shanmugam's application for court orders requiring TikTok to produce documents and information that would help to identify the users involved.

The affidavits stated that TikTok had refused to provide Mr Shanmugam with the basic personal information of the three users unless a court order was obtained.

In a response to TODAY's queries, TikTok's lawyers at Rajah & Tann said that they were not able to provide any comment on the matter.

TODAY has also reached out to Mr Shanmugam's legal team for their response.

THE FALSE STATEMENTS

On Aug 13 this year, a TikTok user with the username trusted.selller allegedly uploaded a video which contained two images with the caption "GIVE HIM A DEFAMATION SUIT SISTER #MINISTER #SG #VIRAL #EXWIFE".

The images were of two screenshots, one of which appeared to be of a Facebook page that responded to the search term "k shanmugam ex wife" by displaying an image of Mr Shanmugam and his former wife.

The other was a screenshot of a forum post which contained allegations against Mr Shanmugam that were attributed to a "Former Mrs K Shanmugam".

Two days later on Aug 15, another TikTok user with the username tharakhussin purportedly uploaded a video containing an image of a Facebook post which featured an article published by celebscritic.com that included false and defamatory statements about Mr Shanmugam.

While the video did not directly link back to the article, it displayed the headline in full, highlighting Mr Shanmugam's alleged extramarital affair with Member of Parliament Foo Mee Har.

He has since commenced separate proceedings against celebcritics.com over the published article and on Sep 15, the State Courts declared that the article contained false statements about Mr Shanmugam, and the website was given a stop publication order.

The third TikTok user referred to in Mr Shanmugam's affidavit went by the username thaddeusthomas81 and allegedly posted a video on Aug 17 which was purported to be about the minister with the caption: "Clarifications and a look at who is the wife and alleged mistress".

The video also contained an image, among others, of Ms Foo Mee Har with the words "alleged affair with MP Foo Mee Har".

In his affidavits, Mr Shanmugam states that he has never engaged in such an affair.

In an effort to clarify the false allegations, Mr Shanmugam took to Facebook where he said that the allegations attributed to his former wife were, in fact, written by an imposter.

Mr Shanmugam stated that his ex-wife had told him that she did not write them and that it was an imposter who made up the allegations.

The minister also clarified that the allegations of his supposed affair with Ms Foo were "false and baseless".

His affidavits cited an Aug 18 Mothership article as well, that detailed the apologies made by two individuals who published similar allegations.

TIKTOK'S REFUSAL TO PROVIDE USER INFORMATION

Following the discovery of the videos, Mr Shanmugam had engaged lawyers to ask TikTok to take immediate action to disable access to the videos.

The request also asked for TikTok to provide the three users' basic subscriber information.

However, TikTok responded in an email saying that they were unable to disclose the information in the absence of a court order or other legal requirement.

Even though TikTok did not provide assistance, Mr Shanmugam's lawyers were still able to try to reach out to two of these TikTok users through Facebook, requesting that they remove the videos and provide a written apology, but no response was received.

PROVISION OF USERS' INFORMATION 'NECESSARY'

As Mr Shanmugam has been unable to ascertain the identity or address of the three TikTok users, he has been unable to commence legal proceedings directly against them.

In his affidavits, Mr Shanmugam stated that the request for the documents and information would help lead him to the users' identities and it is proportionate to require TikTok to produce them.

In using TikTok, the users have agreed not to publish any material that is deliberately designed to provoke or intended to harass, harm, hurt, distress, embarrass or upset people, but this was breached by the three users when they uploaded the videos, he said.

https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/shanmugam-court-order-require-tiktok-name-users-false-allegations-extramarital-2314151

Dedicated to Uncle Ong:

Hey Snake Shan, stop fucking trying to deflect public attention away from Miss Vivian's and your threats to sue LHY in the UK - when are you two going to make good on them?

I can definitely sleep well tonight knowing that Gordon Ong has chua sai gao gao in his pants💤

Dear Shanmugam, please sue the pants off this Gordon Ong, we are in dire need of entertainment ever since the Ridout saga died down!

Shan Ge sent him a cease and desist? The apology comes across as very lawyer-like, perhaps Gordon Ong adopted a recommended template that was included in the letter itself?

饭可以乱吃, 话不能乱说