Companies with a significant online presence and reach in Singapore must be aware of new and far-reaching legislation which was passed recently. The Online Criminal Harms Act (“Act”) aims to safeguard users against online harms, with a focus on promoting a safer online environment.

The Act grants the regulatory authority broad powers in respect of online activities where there is either:

• reasonable suspicion that certain specified offences have been committed and any online activity is in furtherance of the commission of the offence; or
• suspicion or reason to believe that the online activity is preparatory to or in furtherance of the commission of a scam or malicious cyber activity.

In particular, given the proliferation of scams in Singapore recently, the mere suspicion that online activity is for the purpose of scams or malicious cyber activity will be enough for the regulatory authority to take action.  

The regulatory authority will be empowered to issue the following types of directions to persons, regardless of whether they are persons who have control of the material in question, providers of an online service, providers of an internet access service, or the provider of an app distribution service:

• A stop communication direction: this requires the person or entity to remove the material, to disable access to the location where the material is available, or to stop storing, posting, providing or transmitting online material which is similar to the material in question;
  
  
• A disabling direction: this requires the online service provider (e.g. a social media platform or instant messaging provider) to take steps to disable access by persons in Singapore to the material. This extends to any identical copies of the material which may be stored, posted, provided, transmitted on or through the online service provider’s online service;  
  
  
• An access blocking direction: this requires the internet service provider to take steps to disable access by persons in Singapore to the material;
  
  
• An account restriction direction: this requires the online service provider to take steps to disallow or restrict interaction between the account containing the material and persons in Singapore;
  
  
• An app removal direction: this requires the app store to remove the app so that persons in Singapore are unable to download it.

These directions may be issued to individuals or entities regardless of whether they are physically present in / based in Singapore or are outside Singapore.

Failure to comply with a direction is an offence under the Act. A person found guilty of an offence will be liable on conviction to a range of fines or imprisonment, or both.

In addition, the authority is empowered to designate an online service provider and require it to comply with a code of practice, a rectification notice or an implementation directive. These provisions are aimed at promoting good practices by the designated online service provider and to safeguard against a specified group of offences.

Failure to comply with a rectification notice or an implementation directive is an offence liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding SGD1 million.

Key takeaways

Companies doing business in Singapore and having significant online presence or reach should:

• review their existing policies and systems to be ready for the receipt of any directions under the Act; and
• ensure that there are appropriate escalation procedures when directions are issued by the regulatory authority.

The Bill may be accessed here: Online Criminal Harms Bill - Singapore Statutes Online (agc.gov.sg)