Hanoi (VNA) - The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) said that Google has banned political advertising in Singapore several months ahead of the general election in the Southeast Asian country.

SDP Chairman Paul Tambyah said that Google had refused their request to buy ads on the site and cited Singapore’s new regulation that prohibits advertisements that can affect public opinion.

Ted Osius, Google’s vice president for government affairs and public policy, replied that banning political ads was not an easy decision to make.

The new regulation is part of an anti-fake news law that was adopted in October.

Earlier, Google also banned political ads on its platform in Canada ahead of the election this year after Ottawa applied stricter regulations on transparency./.

VNA