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Singapore passes law against 'harmful' social media content

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Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="People picnic on the green roof of Marina Barrage in Singapore on October 10, 2022. Roslan Rahman, AFP" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/overseas/11/09/20221107-singapore.jpg"/><figcaption>People picnic on the green roof of Marina Barrage in Singapore on October 10, 2022. <em>Roslan Rahman, AFP</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>Singapore passed legislation on Wednesday empowering authorities to order social media platforms Facebook, TikTok and others to remove &quot;egregious content&quot; such as those promoting self-harm, sexual exploitation, terrorism and hate.</p><p>The law tightens regulation of social media in the city-state, where rights groups have accused the government of using legislation to stifle free expression.</p><p>Social media firms face a fine of up to 1.0 Singapore dollars million ($715,000) if they fail to comply.</p><p>Singapore passed a law against online falsehoods in 2019, which the government said was aimed at fighting disinformation but which political activists and tech giants criticized as restrictive.</p><p>The new law empowers the regulator Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) to issue orders to platforms, which also include Instagram and YouTube, to take down content deemed to be &quot;egregious&quot;.</p><p>This covers content advocating terrorism, suicide and self-harm, violence, child sexual exploitation and those likely to undermine racial and religious harmony.</p><p>As well as fines, the IMDA can also order internet service providers to block access by users in Singapore.</p><p>Social media companies had no immediate reaction.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/10/12/22/misinformation-is-damaging-humanity-maria-ressa">Misinformation is damaging humanity, democracy: Maria Ressa</a></li></ul><p>Minister for Communications and Information Josephine Teo told parliament the new law aims to fill gaps not addressed by other legislation.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/05/03/22/online-media-fuel-divisions-global-tensions-report">Online media fueling divisions, global tensions: report </a></li></ul><p>She cited the case of a 14-year-old girl in Britain who took her life after being exposed to such posts.</p><p>&quot;There have also been reports of users’ accidental deaths while attempting to mimic videos of impossible physical stunts,&quot; Teo said.</p><p>Users are now more likely to see such harmful content on social media feeds that are &quot;pushed via algorithms&quot; and become viral within minutes, she said.</p><p>&quot;We must have the ability to deal with harmful online content accessible to Singapore users, regardless of where the content is hosted or initiated,&quot; Teo said.</p><div><strong>RELATED NEWS</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2084732" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

The legislation empowers authorities to order social media platforms Facebook, TikTok and others to remove 'egregious content'.