KEY PROVISIONS
The OSC will be headed by a commissioner appointed by the Minister for Digital Development and Information.
“Victims will be required, in most cases, to first report the harm they have experienced to the online service provider before submitting a report to the OSC,” MDDI and MinLaw said.
“For specified categories of online harms that warrant urgent relief, such as intimate image abuse and child abuse material, victims may seek remedies from the OSC immediately. It will be an offence for a complainant to submit false information to the OSC.”
The OSC will be able to issue directions to address online harm, such as taking down harmful content, restricting accounts or allowing victims to post replies.
“These directions may be issued to communicators of the harmful content, administrators of online locations or platforms where the harmful content is hosted,” MDDI and MinLaw said.
Failure to comply with these directions will constitute a criminal offence.
The OSC may also take additional measures such as issuing an access blocking order or app removal order.
The Bill also seeks to introduce statutory torts to clarify the duties and liabilities of the three main groups of communicators, administrators and platforms.
A statutory tort is a civil wrong created by legislation; and when proven, can result in the likes of monetary compensation for victims.
Under the torts, communicators must not communicate, publish or engage in online harm; administrators must not facilitate such harms in spaces they manage and must take reasonable measures when notified; and platforms must take reasonable measures to address specified online harms upon receiving notice of such harm, among others.
“Certain platforms, such as those with greater reach, will be subject to additional requirements, for example, on the time taken to respond to user reports,” MDDI and MinLaw said.
“Overall, the statutory torts will provide victims with a clear cause of action against the above-mentioned parties, and allow victims to seek redress from the Court. The Court will be able to grant remedies such as compensatory damages and injunctions,” the ministries added.
