SINGAPORE, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Singapore's newly established Online Safety Commission began operations on Monday, giving victims of online abuse a new avenue to seek takedowns, support services and civil remedies.
The commission will initially handle five categories of harmful online conduct, including sexual harassment, doxxing, cyberstalking, intimate image abuse and image-based child abuse, Singapore's Ministry of Digital Development and Information, Ministry of Law and the commission said in a joint statement on Sunday.
Additional categories have been identified but will be rolled out in later phases.
For online harassment and cyberstalking, victims are directed to report the content to the platform first before approaching the commission if the platform fails to respond promptly or adequately. Cases involving doxxing, intimate image abuse and image-based child abuse can be reported directly to the commission.
The commission may order users who posted harmful content, administrators of online groups or pages, or platforms hosting the content to take action if there are grounds to believe online harm has occurred. It may require content to be removed, access to be disabled or user accounts to be restricted. Failure to comply is a criminal offense.
If administrators or platforms fail to comply with the commission's orders, internet service providers can be directed to block access to online locations in Singapore, while app stores may be ordered to stop distributing non-compliant platforms' apps in the country.
People who do not know the identity of those who harmed them online may also ask the commission to help identify them.
The commission also works with community organizations that provide counseling and other assistance. ■
