Issuing implementation directive under OCHA to detect and remove moneylending advertisements on social media that target migrant domestic workers

Mr Kenneth Tiong Boon Kiat: To ask the Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether the Ministry has considered issuing an Implementation Directive under the Online Criminal Harms Act requiring social media platforms to detect and remove unlicensed moneylending advertisements targeting migrant domestic workers; and (b) why the approach taken for impersonation scams has not been extended to illegal moneylending advertisements that facilitate harassment of workers and their employers.

Answer:

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

1. The Police work with online platforms like Meta and TikTok to strengthen upstream measures to prevent unlicensed moneylending through pre-emptive detection and blocking of accounts. Between 2023 and 2025, the Police flagged more than 10,900 online accounts and advertisements involved in unlicensed moneylending to online platforms for termination.

2. Implementation Directives under the Online Criminal Harms Act are issued when there is an urgent need to put in place a specific measure to address the proliferation of an offence or possible immediate impact. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued Implementation Directives when there was limited cooperation from the platforms involved. In the context of unlicensed moneylending, the existing collaboration between the Police and online platforms is assessed to be adequate to deal with the issues.