Singapore passes new Online Safety (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill
How does the Online Safety (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill intend to tackle harmful content on online services accessible to users in Singapore, and how does this affect providers of online communication services?
The question
How does the Online Safety (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill intend to tackle harmful content on online services accessible to users in Singapore, and how does this affect providers of online communication services?
The key takeaway
From early 2023 onwards, online communication services (which would include social media services) will be required to remove egregious content if directed by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA). A failure to do so, may result in fines of up to S$1m and/or blocking of their service in Singapore.
Designated online communication services (likely those with significant reach or impact) will also be required to comply with additional online Codes of Practice, which may include obligations on the implementation of measures to prevent access by users to content that may cause significant harm, and empowering users with tools to manage their own safety.
The background
The Online Safety (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill (Bill) was passed by Parliament on 9 November 2022 after it was introduced by the Singapore Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) for First Reading in Parliament on 3 October 2022. The proposed measures under the Bill to tackle online harm and strengthen online safety for users, follow a public consultation conducted by MCI from July to August 2022 on Enhancing Online Safety for Users in Singapore.
The development
The Bill amends the Singapore Broadcasting Act 1994 to impose new obligations under a new Part 10A on providers of online communication services (OCSs). OCSs are defined to include specified types of electronic services (whether provided inside or outside Singapore) accessible by users in Singapore that allow users to access or communicate content via the Internet or deliver content via the Internet to end-users. Private messaging and closed-group communication services such as messaging applications and workplace messaging boards are expressly excluded from the definition of OCSs.
Under the Bill, the new obligations will only apply to specified types of OCSs which are listed in a new Fourth Schedule under the BA. For now, only “social media services” have been specified in the new Fourth Schedule introduced by the Bill, although this may be varied in future (without parliamentary approval) when the Bill takes effect in 2023. A social media service is broadly defined in the Bill as an electronic service whose sole or primary purpose is to enable online interaction or linking between two or more end-users, including enabling end-users to share content for social purposes, and which allows end-users to communicate content on the service.
The regulatory approach under the Bill features two key aspects, namely:
- Requiring OCSs with significant reach or impact to comply with Codes of Practice
Under the Bill, the IMDA may designate certain OCSs as Regulated Online Communication Services (ROCSs) after inter alia taking into account the extent and nature of the effect that different OCSs have on the communities in Singapore, and require ROCS providers to comply with Codes of Practice (COPs). Based on MCI’s press releases and the Minister for Communications and Information’s clarifications during the Second Reading of the Bill, it appears that ROCSs would be services with “significant reach or impact in Singapore”, and that the IMDA intends to consult services before designating them as ROCSs under the Bill, to ensure that designated services are clear on the requirements and are given the opportunity to provide input on the IMDA’s proposals.
The Bill states that COPs may require ROCS providers to put in place appropriate systems or processes on their services to prevent Singapore users, particularly children, from accessing content that presents a material risk of significant harm. COPs may also require ROCS providers to mitigate and manage the risks of danger from content on its service to Singapore users.
In October 2022, the IMDA published a draft Code of Practice for Online Safety (COP OS), which will apply to social media services that are designated as RCOSs. The COP OS was developed after an extensive review of online safety legislation around the world as well as its engagements with major social media services in Singapore. The draft COP OS requires designated social media services (being RCOSs) to meet certain key outcomes, including minimising Singapore users’ exposure to harmful content and empowering users with tools to manage their own safety. The IMDA has indicated that it intends to further consult social media services prior to finalising and issuing the CPOS.
In addition to the COP OS, the Government is also working on a Content Code for Social Media Services for which the draft is not yet available.
The IMDA intends to adopt an outcome-based approach. The COPs will prescribe the outcomes which ROCS providers must meet to protect end-users, but may provide some leeway as to how ROCS providers achieve those outcomes. Every ROCS provider will be under a duty to take all reasonably practicable steps to comply with the COPs applicable to it, failing which the ROCS provider may be ordered by the IMDA to pay a financial penalty not exceeding S$1m, or be directed to take steps to remedy the failure. Non-compliance with a remedial direction given by the IMDA constitutes a criminal offence, punishable with a fine up to S$1m.
- Dealing with egregious content on OCSs
The Bill also provides the IMDA with the power to deal with egregious content on OCS, which includes content that advocates or instructs on suicide or self-harm, violence including sexual violence, terrorism, content depicting child sexual exploitation, content posing public health risk as well as content likely to cause racial and religious disharmony in Singapore. This power extends to any OCS and is not limited to ROCSs.
In the event that specified categories of egregious content can be accessed by Singapore users on an OCS, the IMDA will be able to issue directions to the OCS provider to disable access to the egregious content by Singapore end-users and/or to stop the egregious content from being transmitted to the accounts of Singapore end-users within a specified period. It is notable that such directions cannot be issued in respect of private communications (for example, messages between two users on Facebook messenger). At the Second Reading of the Bill, the Minister for Communications and Information indicated that the specified timelines given to OCS to disable access to the content would generally be “within hours”, and further clarified that the assessment of whether a piece of content is egregious content will be an objective one, considering the context in which it is presented. This means that social media trends or challenges which may appear innocuous but result in harm to users, such as by advocating or providing instructions on self-harm, could be considered egregious content. A means of appealing or contesting a direction given to the OCS is not provided for in the Bill.
In addition to this, the IMDA is further empowered under the Bill to issue a block direction to an internet access service provider to stop access by Singapore end-users to egregious content on an OCS where the OCS provider fails to comply with the IMDA’s directions.
Every OCS provider or Internet access service provider who has been given a direction has a duty to take all reasonably practicable steps to comply with the direction. A provider who fails in its duty to comply with a direction by the IMDA commits a criminal offence, punishable with a fine (up to S$1m for an OCS provider).
Why is this important?
The Bill and the proposed COPs to be introduced in 2023 will have a significant impact on social media services and will likely require social media services to review and introduce appropriate systems or processes to mitigate the risks of danger to Singapore end-users, particularly children, from exposure to harmful content online, failing which directions and heavy fines could be imposed by the IMDA.
The Singapore government has also signalled its intention to update the COPs as well as relevant legislation and enforcement capabilities in a timely manner to respond to technologies as they evolve.
Any practical tips?
As a direction from the IMDA has to be complied with quickly, OCSs should work on mechanisms for dealing with such directions quickly. It may be worth implementing methods of pre-emptively identifying and flagging posts on OCSs which the IMDA is likely to highlight so that they can be swiftly removed if necessary.
Winter 2022