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The Online Safety (Miscellaneous Amendments) law kicked in on Feb. 1, 2023.
But what does it change?
Announced and passed in 2022
To get you up to speed, the law was first announced during the Committee of Supply (COS) debate in March 2022, before it was passed in Parliament on Nov. 9, 2022.
The law, which builds upon the existing Broadcasting Act (BA), seeks to hold social media platforms, otherwise known as Online Communication Services (OCS), liable if they fail to protect local users from online harms.
Those who fail to comply may face a fine of up to S$1 million, or a direction to have their social media services blocked in Singapore.
Targeting Online Communication Services
OCS are electronic services that allow users to access or communicate content via the Internet or deliver content to other users and are regulated by the BA.
Within the OCS group, those with "significant reach" are called Regulated Online Communication Services (ROCS), and are required to comply with a Code of Practice (COP), which consist of measures limiting the exposure to egregious content online.
Also within the OCS group are Social Media Services (SMS), electronic services with a sole or primary purpose that allows two or more users to interact online, such as sharing and communicating content with one another.
Examples include Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.
Groups with large memberships can be directed by IMDA
Groups with "very large memberships" on private messaging services, such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, also fall under the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA)'s jurisdiction under the law.
This includes those labelled as private, and/ or those where the public can become a member easily can be considered non-private communication on an SMS.
The IMDA, which enforces the law, can direct the OCS to disable access to egregious content and prevent specified accounts with such content from communicating in the event that the exchange of egregious content is found.
Examples of egregious content include but are not limited to those advocating suicide or self-harm, physical or sexual violence, and terrorism, as well as content that depicts child sexual exploitation, poses a public health risk in Singapore, or causes racial and religious disharmony in Singapore.
IMDA can also instruct internet access service providers, such as Singtel, StarHub and M1, to block non-compliant OCS, which stops users in Singapore from accessing the service.
Besides that, IMDA will also engage services that do comply with COP or with their directions and dole out fines of up to S$$1 million if there is no "meaningful response or mutually acceptable solution" and the services continue acting in breach.
Protecting young Singaporeans
The law will have additional safeguards to protect young users in Singapore.
This included minimising their exposure to inappropriate content and providing tools for children or their parents to manage their safety online, and mandate services to provide differentiated accounts to children.
These differentiated accounts will have default safety settings that are robust and set to more restrictive levels that are age-appropriate, where individuals will be warned of implications if they opt out of these settings.
On a broader level, Singapore users will have tools to manage their own safety and will be equipped with the information needed to make informed decisions when using online services, while online services will be held accountable for their systems, processes, and actions.
The government will step in to protect users where there is egregious content that undermines racial and religious harmony.