Enforcement of online harms legislation's orders on non-English overseas platforms

Question:

Mr David Hoe: To ask the Senior Minister, Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs in relation to content targeting the Indian community and AI-generated disinformation about Singapore (a) whether the Online Criminal Harms Act (OCHA) can effectively address such content on non-English overseas platforms accessible to Singapore users; (b) whether any directions or information requests were issued to such originating platform(s); and (c) whether stronger laws, access-blocking or enforcement measures are needed across the wider online ecosystem.

Answer:

Mr K Shanmugam, Senior Minister, Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs:

1. The Online Criminal Harms Act (OCHA) provides the Government with powers to act against online content if they constitute an offence under the First Schedule. These powers apply to all online platforms accessible to Singapore users, independent of language medium, and includes AI-generated content.

2. Should a platform fail to comply with OCHA Directions without reasonable excuse, further actions may be considered against them. These include prosecutorial action and the issuance of orders to restrict Singaporean access to the non-compliant platform

3. In this particular case, Directions were issued to a number of platforms, and they have complied. These are platforms which are used by many Singapore users. The Direction restricts their access to the offending content, regardless of their source.

4. We take a serious view of threats to our social cohesion and racial harmony, and will not hesitate to take further measures to protect Singapore users from online harms.