Issuance of Correction Direction Under the Protection From Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act to Plan B

1. The Minister for Home Affairs has instructed for a Correction Direction, under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act, to be issued to Plan B, a podcast show on Spotify which interviewed Mr James Raj Arokiasamy (“James Raj”), a man who was sentenced to 4 years and 8 months’ imprisonment in 2015 for offences under the then-Computer Misuse and Cybersecurity Act and the Misuse of Drugs Act. This is in response to three podcast episodes (#614, #615 and #616) which were uploaded to Spotify on 6 Sep 2023.

2. In the Spotify podcast episodes, James Raj made several false statements. Some of these false statements were also reproduced on Plan B’s Instagram posts on 7 Sep 2023.

3. Plan B will be required to carry correction notices on their Spotify and Instagram accounts. These notices will state that the said podcast and videos contain false statements of fact and provide a link to the Government’s clarification. This will allow readers to read both versions and draw their own conclusions.

4. The Government takes a serious view of the deliberate communication of malicious falsehoods.

5. For facts of the case, please refer to the Factually article “Corrections regarding false statements in Plan B’s Spotify podcast interview with James Raj and other related posts on Instagram published on 6 and 7 Sep 2023” .

6. We are also aware that James Raj had posted several videos on TikTok, which contained additional falsehoods and allegations. They are untrue. We understand that TikTok has banned James Raj’s TikTok account, @jamesmessiah, and the videos are no longer accessible.