Steps by the Government to Impose Accountability on Social Media Platforms to Prevent Impersonation Scams

Question:

Mr Saktiandi Supaat: To ask the Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs (a) What further steps will the Government take to impose accountability on social media platforms in Singapore to prevent impersonation scams, especially those using government officials’ images or videos; and (b) whether there will be mandated transparency or reporting requirements for platforms on impersonation incidents and their mitigation efforts.

Answer:

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

1. Facebook is the top platform used by scammers to approach victims in cases involving the impersonation of Government office holders. The Singapore Police Force has issued an Implementation Directive to Meta, requiring it to enhance its measures to stop and prevent the publication of photos and videos of key Government office holders used in scam advertisements, remove accounts, profiles, and business pages that impersonate these office holders, and prioritise the review of end user reports from Singapore on such advertisements, accounts, profiles and pages.

2. Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and SPF will also work with Meta to leverage its global impersonation protection measures to support other influential public figures in Singapore who may be at risk of being impersonated by scammers. We will also consider imposing similar requirements on other online platforms depending on the scam situation.