S'pore police orders takedown of online content targeting Indian community in S'pore, likely originating from China-based platform

The Singapore Police Force (SPF) has issued Disabling Directions (DD) to social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) to disable Singapore users' access to online content that negatively target Singapore's Indian community.

Investigations revealed the content likely originated from a China-based platform and spread elsewhere in the online space.

Under the Online Criminal Harms Act 2023 (OCHA), the authorities have ordered social media platforms to block access to 14 online posts.

Inflammatory narratives

According to a press release issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Jun. 6, the posts contained inflammatory narratives suggesting that Singapore was being "overrun by Indians".

They included allegations that Singapore's multiracial policy is a façade meant to appeal to Western values, and that the country's stability cannot be attributed to its multiracial policy, but rather to its Chinese-majority demographic.

Minister for Law and Second Minister for Home Affairs Edwin Tong said in a Jun. 6 media doorstop that some videos also conveyed the message that the Chinese ethnic group has a greater right to belong in Singapore, compared to other ethnic groups.

They also suggested that Singapore's ethnic Indian politicians numbers are growing and that they would act in favour of Indian immigrants.

The content included images of Singapore's president, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, and political office-holders as part of a narrative that there is a growing "over-representation" of Indians in Singapore's government.

Content denounced Singapore government's "decoupling" from China

At the same time, some of the narratives claimed that Singapore's culture is "fundamentally Chinese", MHA said.

They denounced the government's "decoupling" from China while neglecting the "threat" of a growing Indian population, suggesting it would lead to a negative outcome.

The posts were accompanied by selective images and footage of crowded streets along Little India, likely taken on a weekend when migrant workers would have the day off, as well as of Indian devotees at a religious festival at Pagoda Street, to suggest Singapore's "overcrowding" with Indians.

Derogatory language was also used against the Indian community, including terms like "concentration of curry".

Posts likely originated from China-based platform

The posts came after narratives circulated in the Chinese information space in May 2026 that the Singapore public was facing growing anxiety over the nation's cultural identity and ethnic politics.

Investigations by MHA found that the content likely originated from a China-based platform and spilled over into other online spaces.

There have also been deliberate efforts to spread similar content into Singapore's information space, said the ministry.

The posts were assessed by MHA and SPF to likely constitute an offence of knowingly promoting feelings of enmity or ill-will against racial groups, or acts prejudicial to the maintenance of racial harmony in Singapore.

DDs were issued for the platforms to take all reasonable steps to disable Singapore users' access to 14 such posts.

Singapore firmly opposes nativism and xenophobia

In its press release, MHA denounced the attacks, saying that "Singapore firmly opposes nativism and xenophobia."

"Any attempt to pit one community against another here must be firmly rejected," it said, adding that "attacks coming from a foreign source are doubly unacceptable."

In his interview, Tong emphasised that the division of people by race "is not who we are".

"Every community in Singapore here is valued and everyone has an equal place."

He added that there is currently no evidence to suggest that the attacks were a coordinated campaign by any foreign government, and said the Singapore government's priority now is to take down the posts.

He also urged Singaporeans to be discerning with online content consumed and avoid disseminating them should they pose a threat to social harmony.