Issuance of disabling directions under the Online Criminal Harms Act to deal with religiously offensive social media posts

1. The Singapore Police Force (“SPF”) has issued Disabling Directions (“DD”) under the Online Criminal Harms Act 2023 (“OCHA”) to Meta, to deal with social media posts showing a video of a man stepping on the Quran, believed to be on a public bus in Singapore. While the original video is no longer available, it was reposted and shared on other social media platforms. 

2. The Ministry of Home Affairs (“MHA”) and the SPF assess that the content of the video constitutes an offence of insulting the religion of another person in Singapore under Section 17F(4) of the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act 1990. We have issued five DDs to Meta to disable access to the content, and the posts containing the video are no longer accessible to end-users in Singapore. While some individuals may have reposted the video to condemn the actions of the original poster, doing so perpetuates the offensive content online. Members of the public who come across such content are advised to inform the authorities instead. 

3. Police investigations are ongoing.

4. MHA takes a strong stance against threats to Singapore’s racial and religious harmony. We will not tolerate such behaviour, and offenders will be dealt with swiftly and firmly.