New Singapore law empowers commission to block harmful online content

SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Singapore will introduce a new online safety commission with powers to order social media platforms to block harmful posts, according to a new bill that was tabled in parliament on Wednesday. The new law comes after researchers from the Infocomm Media Development Authority found in February that more than half of legitimate user complaints about harmful posts relating to issues like child abuse and cyber-bullying had not been immediately addressed. The new commission will be empowered under a new law to address local user reports of harms like online harassment, doxxing, online stalking, the abuse of intimate images and child pornography by the end of the first half of 2026.  It will also have powers to direct social media platforms to restrict access to harmful material within Singapore, give victims a right to reply, and ban perpetrators from accessing their platform. The commission will also be able to order internet service providers to block access to specific online locations, such as group pages or even a social media platform's website.  More harms, including the non-consensual disclosure of private information and "the incitement of enmity", will be introduced over stages following the initial launch. The new commission will be set up under a new online safety bill that was introduced to lawmakers on Wednesday. It will be debated at the next available session of parliament.  The setting up of an online safety commission was first mooted during the Ministry of Digital Development and Information's budget debate in March this year. "More often than not, platforms fail to take action to remove genuinely harmful content reported to them by victims,” said Josephine Teo, Minister for Digital Development and Information.  The government recently targeted Meta with the first order issued under the nation's new Online Criminal Harms Act, which came into force in February 2024. In September, the home affairs ministry threatened Meta with a fine of up to S$1 million ($771,664) and fines of up to S$100,000 per day after the end of the month if it failed to introduce measures like facial recognition to curb impersonation scams on its social network Facebook. The home affairs ministry could not immediately be reached to confirm if Meta complied with the order.  ($1 = 1.2959 Singapore dollars) (Reporting by Jun Yuan Yong; Editing by David Stanway)

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