Singapore authorities blocked access to 14 social media posts that were found targeting the Indian community and promoting racial tension.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has said that the posts are part of “malicious efforts to sow discord” by creating negative towards Indians living in Singapore.
According to the ministry, the content is falsely suggested that Singapore was being overrun by Indians. The posts used selected images and videos of crowded areas in Little India and footages of Indian devotees attending religious festival in Pagoda Street to support these claims.
Action Taken Under Online Safety Laws
Singapore Police has acted under Online Crime Harms Act, which orders social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and X to block access to the content for users in Singapore.
The order needs the platforms to take reasonable steps to prevent Singapore users from seeing this posts. Authorities said that investigations found that the content is most likely originated based in China before it was shared across multiple websites and social media platforms. All the 14 posts were mainly in Chinese.
However, Singapore’s Law Minister and Second Minister for Home Affairs, Edwin Tong said there is no evidence to say that the posts were part of a campaign by any government. Speaking to reporters, Edwin Tong said the investigations has shown that this content is likely created and shared by foreign internet users.
Threat To Racial Harmony
MHA said this posts could be considered as a criminal offense because they promoted feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different racial groups in Singapore.
The ministry said this content damages Singapore’s long-standing multicultural society, which is built on racial and religious harmony among the diverse communities.
Singapore Rejects Xenophobia and Nativism
The ministry has ensured that they strongly disagree with xenophobia and nativism, adding that any attempt to create divisions between communities must be firmly rejected.
This situation is more concerning as the content is appeared to be originated from outside Singapore. Authorities said they will continue to monitor and take action against online content that threatened social harmony and racial unity in the country.
Sources: FMT, The Straits Times, MHA
