New online harms support centre to operate from 2026, will offer victims faster recourse

A new one-stop centre will be set up to help victims of online harms get recourse faster, particularly for harms related to cyber bullying, deepfakes and the non-consensual sharing of intimate images. It will begin operations in the first half of 2026.

Named the Online Safety Commission, the dedicated government agency will be empowered by new legislation to order online platforms to take down offensive content flagged by victims.

To be tabled in Parliament later in 2025, the Online Safety (Relief and Accountability) Bill carries other remedies for victims such as the option to request perpetrators’ information to commence legal proceedings.

“We want to do more to support victims of online harms,” said Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo, announcing plans for the upcoming agency and legislation in Parliament on March 7 during the debate on her ministry’s budget.

Strengthening trust and safety online is one of the key priorities for the Ministry of Digital Development and Information’s (MDDI) spending over the next financial year, she said in her response to Ms Tin Pei Ling (MacPherson), who asked about rising cases of online harms.

“More often than not, platforms fail to take action to remove genuinely harmful content reported to them by victims,” said Mrs Teo, referring to a study by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), which found that social media companies drag their feet when responding to reports of harmful content.

Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X and YouTube took an average of at least five days to respond to user complaints, the study said.

She cited the example of an 18-year-old victim whose likeness was used in a deepfake video that was circulated online, with her face superimposed onto another person’s nude body.

Strangers reposted the image and left inappropriate comments, she said. When the girl made a report to the platform, it removed the original post but did not take down the copies of the image that had been shared.

“(She) continues to question who created that photo of her, and if it is still found online,” Mrs Teo said. “Victims like (her) need more support to find closure.”

The Online Safety Commission and the upcoming Bill aim to speed up the time taken for victims to get help for online harms encountered online, said Mrs Teo.

One proposed remedy, which received overwhelming support during a recent public consultation, allows victims to sue page administrators and tech platforms for cases related to cyber bullying, sexual harassment, intimate image abuse, child abuse material, impersonation, deepfakes and hate speech.

Victims will also be able to request the Commission to direct the platform to take down the offensive image, including identical copies, on the platform, said Mrs Teo.

The functions of this new agency received strong support from more than 100 respondents in the month-long consultation with the public in late 2024.

Plans for the new agency were first announced by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in October 2024. The agency is modelled on Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, an independent regulator that was granted powers in 2022 to direct social media platforms to remove flagged harmful content within 24 hours or face penalties.

The new Bill and Online Safety Commission will add to existing legal levers, including the amended Broadcasting Act and Protection from Harassment Act (Poha).

Under the Broadcasting Act, app stores and social media services can be ordered to remove specified harmful content.

The Government in January also issued new requirements for app stores to implement age assurance measures like facial scans by March 2026 to keep young users under 18 away from apps for mature users.

Poha is also available to victims to take known perpetrators to court and seek compensation from the wrongdoers.

Efforts will also be ramped up to fend off malicious cyber activities amid rising threats, said Mrs Teo.

MDDI is looking into establishing standards for cyber-security testing and introducing new requirements for cyber-security practices to be factored into government procurement decisions, she said.

Mrs Teo also gave details of Singapore’s participation in an international cyber operation in 2024 to disinfect IT systems that have been compromised to form a global botnet – a network of computers infected and then controlled collectively without the owners’ knowledge, such as to send spam or viruses.

Some 2,700 infected devices in Singapore were discovered, she said, adding that bad actors had targeted those with poor cyber hygiene practices like weak passwords to infect devices, including baby monitors and internet routers.

Close work with industry partners is crucial for stronger cyber security, said Mrs Teo, highlighting work with tech companies, for instance, in combating scams.

For instance, IMDA in February published guidelines for cloud service and data centre operators to perform background checks on all employees and third-party service providers, among other measures, to strengthen the security of digital infrastructure of critical services like banking and telecommunications.

These guidelines are likely to be given legal teeth when the upcoming Digital Infrastructure Act (DIA) is enacted to hold cloud service providers and data centre operators accountable to more stringent security standards.

The guidelines spell out expectations for the organisations in managing user access controls, setting up business continuity plans and measures to minimise service disruptions, among other safeguards.

Singapore has worked closely with organisations and is developing its own slew of anti-scam measures in recent years, said Mrs Teo, in reply to Ms Tin’s question on measures to help Singaporeans feel safe from scams.

The number of scam reports rose to a record annual high of 51,501 cases in 2024, involving a record total of $1.1 billion.

Mrs Teo listed examples of Singapore’s anti-scam efforts, including IMDA’s work with telcos in 2024 to block some 117 million potential scam calls, accounting for roughly a quarter of all international calls. Roughly 50 million potential scam SMSes were also blocked, she added.

More than 280,000 telco subscribers have also opted in to block overseas calls, following a new measure offered to mobile phone users to disable contact from overseas to avoid scams. Another 220,000 users have blocked overseas SMSes, she said.

A security feature designed to block the installation of high-risk mobile apps prevented 1.6 million attempts to download potentially malicious apps across nearly 400,000 devices, said Mrs Teo. She was referring to the measure rolled out by default to Android users here in a collaboration with Google.

The number of thwarted installations almost doubles the 900,000 blocked attempts that was reported in August 2024 – a sign that Android users here continue to fall for ploys to have them install malware.

“These are considerable efforts,” she said. “But we are not stopping at the above measures. We are working with the telcos and online platforms to address criminal misuse of their services.”

Osmond Chia is a technology reporter at The Straits Times, covering cyber security, artificial intelligence and the latest consumer gadgets.

Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

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