The Internet has been the happy hunting ground of all manner of predators for some time now, making stronger cybersecurity a crying need. To combat the dangers of the web, Singapore parliament has passed a new law on online harm on November 5, and a new one-stop government agency to detect and take down harmful content is expected by June 2026.
Reporting on the matter, The Straits Times said that 23 Singapore MPs debated the Online Safety (Relief and Accountability) Bill — now passed into law — for eight hours on Wednesday, and that they “spoke intensely on issues ranging from remedies for victims who are minors to the risk of government agency’s powers being an overreach”.
The report quoted Singapore Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo as saying that victims wanted “quick takedowns” of harmful online content.
She cited a 2025 study by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) — a statutory board under the Singapore Ministry of Digital Development and Information — that revealed a delay in action taken by digital platforms on reports of online harm.
Referring to the IMDA study finding that digital platforms took about five days or more to act upon each valid report of online harm, the minister said, “This is highly unsatisfactory for victims.”
In an Instagram post today, Minister Teo wrote: “2 in 5 online harms victim-survivors experienced serious emotional, mental or physical impact, yet 3 in 4 victims choose not to voice their opinions for fear of being targeted for doing so, according to a study by SG Her Empowerment.”
“Passed last night in Parliament, the new Online Safety (Relief and Accountability) (OSRA) Bill marks a major milestone in protecting Singaporeans from online harms, by giving victims an avenue for timely, effective and accessible redress,” added the minister.
Fear of the perpetrators and the challenging complexities of legal remedies often left victims feeling helpless, it emerged from the parliamentary debate.
In this context, online harm victims can find a helping hand in the proposed one-stop agency, named the Online Safety Commission (OSC).
This agency will be tasked with supporting victims by “issuing directions to platforms, administrators of groups or pages, content communicators, Internet service providers or app stores to take down harmful content, restrict the perpetrator’s online account or allow the victim to post a reply”, said the ST report.
The Workers’ Party, the leading Opposition party in Singapore, had put forth some amendments — among these was exclusion of online material from OSC purview if the material was “fair comment on a matter of public interest”; and inclusion of sexual grooming and the publication of online material that promotes suicide or self-harm. However, the proposed amendments were voted down.
Initially, the OSC purview will cover the following areas: online harassment; doxing (a form of cyberbullying); online stalking; image abuse; and image-based child abuse.
Afterwards, the OSC’s scope of action will expand to online impersonation; inauthentic material or deepfake abuse; online instigation of disproportionate harm; incitement of violence and enmity; non-consensual disclosure of private information; as well as the publication of false material or reputationally harmful statements.
