Singapore blocks online posts targeting Indian community; content likely from China-based platform

SINGAPORE – The authorities have ordered social media platforms to block access to 14 online posts that target the Indian community, such as by suggesting that Singapore was being overrun by Indians.

Investigations showed that the content most likely originated from a platform based in China and was subsequently carried on other platforms and websites, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in a statement on June 6.

MHA said the content, which selectively used images and footage of crowded streets in Little India and of Indian devotees at a religious festival in Pagoda Street to back claims that Singapore is “overcrowded” with Indians, undermines Singapore’s model of multiculturalism.

MHA said: “Singapore firmly opposes nativism and xenophobia. Any attempt to pit one community against another here must be firmly rejected. These attacks coming from a foreign source are doubly unacceptable.”

Speaking to reporters at Siglap South Community Centre on June 6, Law Minister Edwin Tong said there is no evidence at present to suggest that these posts were part of a coordinated campaign by any government.

He was responding to a question on whether there was any reason to suspect a coordinated campaign by a state actor, in particular China.

Tong, who is also Second Minister for Home Affairs, said investigations show the content was “likely generated organically by various foreign netizens”.

“I would say any country seeking to safeguard its social cohesion would agree with us that such content is unacceptable and would take a similar stance to safeguard their own society,” he added.

MHA said that it assessed, together with the Singapore Police Force, that the posts are likely to constitute an offence under Section 298A of the Penal Code – for knowingly promoting feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different groups on grounds of race, or committing an act prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between different racial groups in Singapore.

The police have issued disabling directions under the Online Criminal Harms Act for the content on YouTube, Facebook and X, which requires the platforms to take all reasonable steps to disable access by Singapore users to these posts.

All 14 posts were primarily in Chinese.

The ministry said it had also observed deliberate efforts to spread more such content in Singapore.

“These are malicious efforts to sow discord by inciting ill-will against the Indian community in Singapore,” it said.

“This includes Indian migrant workers in sectors such as construction who are here to make an honest living. They contribute to Singapore’s growth and development, and are valued members of our society.”

The Government takes a serious view of threats to Singapore’s social cohesion and racial harmony, including from external actors, and will act resolutely against them, it added.

“We urge Singaporeans to be discerning when consuming and disseminating information online, and to reject all attempts to divide our society,” MHA said.

Tong said the message in the posts, which he called “offensive and problematic”, is that the Chinese ethnic group has a greater right to belong in Singapore than other ethnic groups.

He said: “We don’t tolerate any narratives at all that seek to undermine the racial harmony that we enjoy and that we protect, especially when they are propagated by foreigners.

“And many of these posts are of foreign origin, so our priority right now is to take down these posts.”

A screengrab of content on YouTube which selectively used images and footage of crowded streets along Little India. — A screengrab of content on YouTube which selectively used images and footage of crowded streets in Little India.

PHOTO: MDDI

MHA said narratives started circulating online “in the Chinese information space” in May that Singapore is displaying anxiety over its cultural identity and ethnic politics.

Shortly after, online content emerged containing inflammatory narratives about Singapore’s cultural diversity and suggesting that Singapore was being overrun by Indians.

The ministry said these narratives include claims that Singapore’s multiracial policy is a facade meant to appeal to Western values and that the country’s stability cannot be attributed to its multiracial policy, but rather to its majority Chinese demographics.

The content included claims that the growing number of ethnic Indian politicians in Singapore would act in favour of Indian immigrants.

The content also said that with Singapore’s culture being fundamentally Chinese, the Government’s approach of “decoupling” itself from China while neglecting the threat of a growing Indian community would lead to a negative outcome.

Apart from the selective use of images and footage of crowded streets in Little India which MHA said were most likely taken at weekends, when migrant workers have their day off, the content also contains derogatory and demeaning language to refer to the Indian community in Singapore, for example, comparing increases in their numbers to “concentration of curry”.

Tong said the videos attack Singapore’s multiracial society and try to divide people based on race.

“This, however, is not who we are. Every community in Singapore here is valued, and everyone has an equal place,” he said.

“So, these values and these videos strike at the very foundation of what makes Singapore home for all of us, and they undermine the very basis of our society.”

In a Facebook post late on June 6, Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam said that it was “unacceptable” that these overseas videos attack one community and seek to divide the country on racial lines.

“We have to and will take firm action. MHA has taken such action.”

A spokesperson for Google, which owns YouTube, said that following a thorough review, it has taken action on the flagged channels in accordance with local laws and its policies. ST has also contacted Meta and X for comment.

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