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Louis Ng on Online Safety (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill

05:13 Min

Does a proposed new law to enhance online safety in Singapore apply to online platforms whose core business is not social media? These include e-commerce platforms that rely on user reviews and comments, as well as online games with extensive user interaction. This question was raised by MP Louis Ng in Parliament on Wednesday (Nov 9). He also asked if direct messages and other user-to-user interactions, as well as semi-private communities such as Discord servers or Telegram groups, fall under private or domestic communications which are excluded under the Bill. Mr Ng also asked about the definition of egregious content. He wanted to know why it covered racial and religious content, but not content that might impact other demographic segments such as gender. He also suggested adding new categories for harmful content, such as content that promotes extreme beauty standards. Finally, Mr Ng suggested that more could be done to help individual victims of harmful online content - for example, by setting aside funds from penalties under the Bill to support them, and by creating a general duty of care on online communications providers to compensate individuals for the harm they suffer due to the platforms’ negligence in managing harmful content.

Does a proposed new law to enhance online safety in Singapore apply to online platforms whose core business is not social media? These include e-commerce platforms that rely on user reviews and comments, as well as online games with extensive user interaction. This question was raised by MP Louis Ng in Parliament on Wednesday (Nov 9). He also asked if direct messages and other user-to-user interactions, as well as semi-private communities such as Discord servers or Telegram groups, fall under private or domestic communications which are excluded under the Bill. Mr Ng also asked about the definition of egregious content. He wanted to know why it covered racial and religious content, but not content that might impact other demographic segments such as gender. He also suggested adding new categories for harmful content, such as content that promotes extreme beauty standards. Finally, Mr Ng suggested that more could be done to help individual victims of harmful online content - for example, by setting aside funds from penalties under the Bill to support them, and by creating a general duty of care on online communications providers to compensate individuals for the harm they suffer due to the platforms’ negligence in managing harmful content.

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