Govt will work with platforms to respond to online harms faster

For other cases of intimate image abuse or image-based child abuse, the response time is 24 hours. For online harassment, doxing and stalking, platforms must take action within 48 hours.

Platforms that these requirements apply to are YouTube, Google Maps Reviews, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, WhatsApp, X, HardwareZone Forums, TikTok, Reddit, Telegram and WeChat.

Singapore Children’s Society chief executive Ang Boon Min said faster response times for platforms to act on online harms are important for child victims.

“Children today are on their phones a lot. And something that is spreading in their circles could go viral very quickly,” she said, noting that harms like online sexual abuse are traumatic for children.

Victims, or their guardians, can get online platforms to act on online harms they experienced by filling a form downloaded from the Ministry of Law’s website and sending the form to the platforms.

Tong said on Sept 23 that the Government also wants to make it easier for victims to send these online harm notices to platforms. This includes allowing victims to access the notification form on the platforms’ own services. The form should be easy to find and use, and only request information from victims that is “reasonably necessary”.

For major platforms, Tong said the Government hopes they can provide a clear and dedicated channel for victims to easily send the online harm notices, such as a designated e-mail address, for a start.

How victims’ online harms notices are approached should also be practical and handled in a “victim-centric way”, he said. Tong noted that there have been cases where victims can no longer find the original offending online content but it still circulates virally, such as on closed messaging apps.

“All of these hurdles should not put relief beyond their reach,” he said.

“Where there’s a credible report, the focus should be on whether there’s enough information to investigate and to act, not whether every procedural box has been checked.”

Another challenge for victims is serving court documents to, for example, perpetrators or platforms overseas to act on online harms.

Since online harms cross borders very easily, serving court documents across borders can be harder. So the Government is looking at how to make the process easier, Tong said.

“Being overseas should not, by itself, put someone outside of accountability,” he added.

His comments come after the Online Safety Commission (OSC), a new government agency launched in June, said on Sept 22 that it received more than 500 reports of online harms within two months of its launch.

The OSC is empowered by OSRAA to help victims of online harms secure swift content takedowns and restrict offender accounts.

Victims of intimate image and image-based child abuse, as well as victims of doxing, can submit reports to OSC immediately, while victims of online harassment or stalking must first report their case to online platforms and wait 24 hours before escalating the matter to the OSC.

Tong said that the more than 500 reports that OSC received will help the Government deal better with the next 500 cases and possibly prevent some of them from happening. “That is ultimately how we should measure success, not by how many people come to the OSC for assistance but by whether, over time, fewer people need to do so,” he added.