Protecting users from criminal activities on communication platforms such as Telegram

Question: 

Mr Vikram Nair: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs whether the Ministry plans to introduce any further laws, regulations or actions to curb the use of Telegram to facilitate a range of illicit and criminal activities, including (i) the sale of drugs, vapes and etomidate (ii) scam operations and (iii) sexual crimes.


Answer:

Mr Goh Pei Ming, Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs & Ministry of Social and Family Development:

1. Any communication platform can be misused to facilitate criminal activities. To address this the Government primarily relies on legal powers under the Online Criminal Harms Act (OCHA).  

2. When online criminal content is detected, the Government can issue OCHA Directions to prevent the offending accounts or content from interacting with users in Singapore. Since the operationalisation of OCHA, the Police have been able to disrupt online criminal activities, including on communication platforms such as Telegram, more effectively. 

3. The Government also actively engages online communication platforms to implement ex-ante measures to prevent scams and malicious cyber activities. Through the OCHA Codes of Practice, designated online services such as Telegram must implement appropriate systems, processes and measures to quickly disrupt malicious accounts and activities, and prevent their propagation. As part of the continuing efforts against the serious scam situation, the Police are working with designated online service providers, including Telegram, to implement further anti-scam measures under the OCHA Codes of Practice by this year.

4. The Government will continue to review our laws and regulations to ensure that they remain effective in protecting users in Singapore from online criminal harms.