CPJ warns Bloomberg defamation ruling could chill reporting in Singapore

Jakarta, July 15, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by the Singapore High Court’s decision ordering Bloomberg and one of its reporters to pay S$460,000 (US$356,000) in damages to two senior ministers who sued them for defamation over an article about their property deals.

The coordinating minister for national security, K. Shanmugam, and the manpower minister, Tan See Leng, filed lawsuits on January 6, 2025, against Bloomberg and its reporter, Low De Wei, over a December 12, 2024, article titled “Singapore Mansion Deals Are Increasingly Shrouded in Secrecy.”

The article focused on secrecy surrounding the purchases of “good class bungalows” — a luxury kind of property in Singapore — and mentioned 2023 deals involving the ministers.

“We are alarmed by Tuesday’s court decision, which will chill public interest reporting,” said CPJ’s Asia-Pacific Director Beh Lih Yi. “As a regional financial and media hub, Singapore must show it is open for business and public scrutiny, including of property transaction deals. Singaporean public officials should cease using defamation laws to target the media for their reporting.”

In her judgement, High Court Judge Audrey Lim said the Bloomberg article was defamatory and written with malice. “The broader narrative of how wealthy individuals in Singapore use non-caveated transactions and trust structures to keep their dealings secret or ‘off-radar’ was the cover devised to carry that story,” Lim said. She awarded each claimant S$230,000. 

John Micklethwait, editor-in-chief of Bloomberg, said in a statement the company stood by the newsroom and its reporter. “We argued at trial that our reporting was accurate and served an important public interest, and we continue to believe that the ministers have imposed an extremely strained meaning on what was a solid story,” he said.

On December 23, 2024, Bloomberg and three other news outlets were ordered to make corrections under Singapore’s Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act, which allows authorities to respond to online statements it determines are false.

According to the government’s fact-checking website, Factually, Bloomberg’s “false statements” attacked the “transparency of property transactions in Singapore.” 

K. Shanmugam and Tan See Leng did not immediately reply to CPJ’s emailed request for comment.