Building an Inclusive and Safe Digital Society

[(proc text) Debate resumed. (proc text)]

Mr Speaker : Senior Minister of State Tan Kiat How.

6.24 pm

The Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information (Mr Tan Kiat How) : Sir, I rise in support of the Motion in the name of Ms Tin Pei Ling.

I thank Members for their thoughtful suggestions on building a safe and inclusive digital society. I will speak on the topic of digital inclusion and Minister Josephine Teo will speak on issues related to digital trust and safety.

With your permission, Sir, may I ask the Clerk to distribute to Members supplementary materials on the topics that Minister Josephine Teo and I will cover today. Members may also access the handout through the MP@SG Parl mobile app.

Mr Speaker : Please proceed. [ Copies of handouts distributed to hon Members .]

Mr Tan Kiat How : Sir, let me first address Members' points on the impact of digitalisation on the workforce and on mental health and well-being.

Ms Tin Pei Ling, Mr Sharael Taha and Mr Mark Lee asked about the impact of digitalisation, especially the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on our workforce and our SMEs and our businesses.

The field of AI, generative AI, in particular, is evolving rapidly. Analysts' predictions on the impact of AI on the workforce and industries vary greatly and sometimes, even contradict each other. But there is broad consensus that AI is here and its development will have profound effects on the world and the certainly for us on this little red dot.

We should not be overly fearful or be overly anxious of this trend. Instead, we should confidently embrace the possibilities with AI. The competition is not between "man" and "machine" but which economy and society can better use technology to improve our competitiveness and our lives.

Singapore is well placed to harness the power of AI, as we have done in previous waves of technological change. The Government's approach has always been to support our businesses and workers to adapt to changes so that they can fully benefit from the opportunities that digital technologies can bring. Some examples include how we are using Jobs Transformation Maps (JTMs), which are specific to different sectors, help employers and workers understand and prepare themselves for future tech-enabled job roles. SkillsFuture and Workforce Singapore offer programmes to support workers to upskill and reskill to take on new jobs. For those who wish to transit to tech roles, they can tap on IMDA's TechSkills Accelerator (TeSA) programme. The Government will continue to work with our tripartite partners, including our Labour unions on this important effort as suggested by Ms Jean See, Mr Sharael Taha and Mr Mark Lee.

Dr Wan Rizal raised the issue of the impact of technology on mental health and well-being. This House will have a fuller discussion on this topic during the Motion on "Advancing Mental Health" next month. So, let me just broadly touch on MCI's approach on this issue.

MCI recognises that technology and social media use can have grave impact on mental health and well-being. As Dr Wan Rizal, Assoc Prof Razwana Begum, Ms Nadia Samdin as well as Ms Mariam Jaafar had mentioned, such risks include exposure to harmful online content, such as cyberbullying and self-harm content, as well as excessive and problematic use of social media. To mitigate these risks to Singaporean users, MCI has introduced regulatory measures to enhance online safety for users, which Minister Josephine Teo will touch on later.

We also work with partners across the public, private and people sectors to raise awareness amongst Singaporeans on online safety and good practices on using technology in a healthy and balanced manner. For example, we work with the Ministry of Education (MOE) to strengthen cyber wellness education in schools, teaching students to be discerning, safe, respectful and responsible users of the online space. They are also taught the importance of respect and empathy, how they can protect themselves and others online and to seek help when necessary.

Dr Wan Rizal also spoke about the role of parents. We agree that parents play a crucial role in guiding their children's digital journey, especially at the early stages. We work with partners, such as the Media Literacy Council, to develop resources for parents and caregivers.

MCI has also worked with technology companies to launch an Online Safety Digital Toolkit in March last year, which guides parents to make use of the parental controls, privacy and reporting tools, as well as self-help resources on the social media platforms.

Collectively, these efforts aim to make the online space safer for all and empower individuals with the know-how to protect themselves and their loved ones and it is an ongoing journey. We will continue to work with partners in this effort.

Sir, let me turn to the theme of digital inclusion. Members have made many good points on how digitalisation has brought benefits and opportunities to Singaporeans. Indeed, as a little red dot with scarce natural resources, we cannot afford to unplug from the global digital economy, especially when others are actively pursuing strategies to be more digital, including leveraging emerging technologies like AI.

Therefore, our aim has always been to make digital work for all so that every Singaporean can benefit. I am glad that all Members share this belief.

Mr Yip Hon Weng, Ms Jessica Tan, Mr Ong Hua Han and Ms Usha Chandradas spoke about some of the challenges that Singaporeans face when going digital. I can relate to these points. I meet many Singaporeans in similar circumstances in my walkabouts, Meet-the-People Sessions as well as many focus groups.

Making digital work for all is not just about going digital, but also recognising that some Singaporeans still prefer non-digital options for certain transactions. Our approach is therefore not digital only for all. An example is CDC Vouchers, which Ms Jessica Tan mentioned earlier. Within a week of the launch, 80% of the 1.27 million Singaporean households have claimed their vouchers. I believe most Singaporeans claimed their CDC Vouchers digitally.

However, those who prefer to use physical vouchers can visit Community Centres to print hard copy vouchers. To better support residents, student volunteers, Silver Infocomm Wellness Ambassadors and our Digital Ambassadors are on hand to help.

Singaporeans who need in-person support for Government services can visit one of our seven ServiceSG Centres. The Centres can help with close to 600 Government services and schemes. Last year, close to 400,000 transactions for services such as Singpass applications, CPF and IRAS services were completed at ServiceSG Centres.

Making digital work for all also means supporting all Singaporeans, regardless of their circumstances, to benefit from digitalisation. It is often said that the measure of a society is how it looks after its most vulnerable. We are taking steps to support those who need more help to benefit from going digital.

In this regard, we are building on a solid foundation. Last year, IMDA released the inaugural Singapore Digital Society report as a stocktake of our efforts. We have made good progress over the years. We are one of the most digitally connected countries in the world. Our digital inclusion efforts are well regarded internationally. Singapore has ranked first on the Inclusive Internet Index from 2018, to the latest report released in 2022.

These datapoints show that we are on the right track. But we are not resting on our laurels. I thank Members for their valuable suggestions on how we can better support lower-income households, small businesses, seniors and persons with disabilities with digitalisation.

Let me touch on some of our efforts.

Mr Sharael Taha stressed the importance of supporting lower-income households with digital connectivity. IMDA introduced the DigitalAccess@Home scheme in April last year to support lower-income households with subsidised broadband and digital devices through a simplified and streamlined application process. Since then, we have supported about 6,800 households.

In particular, together with preceding schemes like NEU PC Plus, we have supported a total of 26,000 households with school-going children with access to digital devices over the last three years. [ Please refer to " Clarification by Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information ", Official Report, 10 January 2024, Vol 95, Issue 119, Correction By Written Statement section. ]

Currently, 98% of resident households with school-going children have computer access. We will continue to support the remaining 2% through schemes like DigitalAccess@Home. This complements efforts by MOE and schools to support students' home-based learning by providing school-prescribed personal learning devices to secondary school students under the National Digital Literacy Programme. In addition, schools loan computers and internet-enabling devices to students who require them for school work.

We will continue to work with schools and our community partners to reach out to all families with school-going children.

We also introduced the Mobile Access for Seniors scheme in June 2020 to provide lower-income seniors with subsidised smartphones and mobile data plans along with training. Since 2020, over 11,000 lower-income seniors have benefited.

Importantly, industry and community partners play a big part to support digital access for lower-income households. For example, SG Bono, a non-profit organisation refurbishes donated laptops for use by lower-income families, especially those with school-going children. I am particularly glad to know that SG Bono extended this support to madrasah students from lower-income households since 2021.

Mr Vikram Nair spoke about hawkers. It is another group of microbusinesses or Singaporeans that we are supporting through the Hawkers Go Digital programme. As of November last year, more than 11,000 stallholders, which is around 60% of all hawkers, have adopted e-payments via the Singapore Quick Response Code (SGQR) platform. Under this programme, SGQR has facilitated an average of 5.1 million transactions worth $42 million per month between June and November last year.

In addition to SGQR and e-payments, this digitalisation support to hawkers and heartland merchants give them the confidence to come onboard other digital initiatives such as the CDC Vouchers.

I am very encouraged to see many stories of how these heartland merchants and small businesses have further built on this foundation and gone further to transform their business models and capture the opportunities of e-commerce.

Mr Yip Hon Weng, Mr Ong Hua Han and others spoke about the Seniors Go Digital programme and asked about the progress.

The Seniors Go Digital programme was set up to equip seniors with basic digital skills so that they too can be part of a digital society and enjoy the benefits of going digital. At the time of the programme's inception in 2020, the need was particularly pressing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, we have conducted training for over 280,000 seniors.

Uptick in seniors' adoption of digital skills has improved over time. For example, in 2022, 86% of seniors knew how to find information online, a 29% increase from just three years ago in 2019. I am always inspired by our seniors who gamely picked up digital skills even though it can be challenging at the outset. This is a testament to their spirit of lifelong learning and the dedication of SDO's Digital Ambassadors, our Silver Infocomm Wellness Ambassadors as well as family and friends who patiently guide seniors on their digitalisation journey.

Singaporeans who want to learn digital skills can visit one of the 37 SG Digital Community Hubs islandwide and they can visit one of the more than 200 roving counters in our workplaces, healthcare institutions and community spaces.

Another aspect is designing services inclusively, with the needs of specific groups in mind. Ms Nadia Samdin and Mr Ong Hua Han spoke about supporting persons with disabilities. In particular, I would like to thank Mr Ong for his feedback on behalf of the deaf and the visually impaired communities, and for his thoughtful suggestions.

We are making progress towards our goal of making all high traffic Government websites fully accessible to persons with disabilities by 2030. We have increased the percentage of high traffic Government websites which are fully accessible from 61% in 2022 to 73% last year.

Mr Ong Hua Han mentioned that we have introduced sign language interpretation for key national events and critical public announcements to improve access to information of national importance. Today, 61% of free-to-air TV programmes carry subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences. We are working with Mediacorp to achieve our target of 70% coverage of free-to-air TV broadcasts accessible through sign language interpretation, captioning or subtitling by 2030.

Ms Nadia Samdin raised the importance of supporting persons with disabilities with assistive technology and learning digital skills. Persons with disabilities who need assistive technology, such as a specialised keyboard and mouse, can tap on the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF)'s Assistive Technology Fund, which provides individuals with a means-tested subsidy of up to 90% of the cost of assistive technology devices, subject to a lifetime cap of $40,000. The fund can be used to acquire, replace, upgrade or repair those devices.

They can also receive assessment and training in the use of these devices at Tech Able, which is an assistive technology centre jointly managed by SG Enable and the disability social service agency, SPD, at the Enabling Village. The Digital Enablement Programme, which Ms Nadia Samdin mentioned, is a Digital for Life (DfL)-funded programme which supports persons with disabilities with essential digital skills for a world of hybrid work. As of March 2023, the programme has supported 200 training places.

I agree with Mr Ong Hua Han that industry partners, especially those providing essential services, must play their part to enhance the accessibility of their services.

We are lowering the adoption barriers for industry partners through providing resources and tools. SG Enable provides e-accessibility training and consultancy services for companies to learn how e-accessibility features can be incorporated into their digital services. The GovTech Accessibility Enabling Team (ALLY) has developed Purple ALLY, a free and open-sourced testing tool for digital teams to check how they can make their digital products or services more accessible.

Mr Ong also asked if we can ensure that future digital infrastructure designers and programmers are exposed to digital accessibility. We will continue to work with our Institutes of Higher Learning on this. For example, students in the Diploma in Design at Ngee Ann Polytechnic design electronic devices to support users with disabilities as part of their curriculum. We will continue to work with Institutes of Higher Learning to incorporate some of these considerations into their curriculum.

I encourage industry partners to make use of these resources and do more to make their services accessible to all Singaporeans.

At the same time, I commend the spirit of Mr Ong's remarks and suggestions. All of us, as a society, can do more to make our digital services and products more inclusive. As a first step, it is oftentimes understanding where each other is coming from and how we can take pragmatic steps to achieve that. In that regard, I would certainly love to invite Mr Ong to address and speak to many of our community partners on this aspect. We will reach out after this Sitting.

This brings me to my next point. The Government cannot do this on our own. I am glad many Members – Ms Hany Soh, Mr Ong Hua Han, Ms Usha Chandradas and others – emphasised that this is a whole-of-nation effort. The Government, corporates, communities and individuals must come together to support different groups who need help on their journeys.

The Digital for Life movement launched in 2021 is an important part of this collective effort. And it is making encouraging progress, bringing together three key partners – the public sector, private sector and people sector – for this common cause.

Over 140 DfL partners have reached out to more than 270,000 beneficiaries. Partners have also come forward to generously contribute some $14 million to the DfL Fund, which supports digital inclusion efforts, including ground-up projects from the community.

I am heartened that there are many who are willing to step forward to support their fellow Singaporeans. I encourage more partners to step forward and work together with us.

For example, Ms Usha shared examples of how we can better involve members of the arts community in our digital inclusion effort. We will certainly reach out to them.

Sir, we have made good progress to enhance access to digital connectivity and services. But access alone is not enough. After all, what good is connectivity and a digital device if we do not have the skills to use them for our benefit? Ms Mariam Jaafar spoke about AI literacy and Mr Sharael Taha spoke about how we must give all Singaporeans, especially students from lower-income families, opportunities. I agree with them.

MOE launched the Transforming Education through Technology plan in September last year to further strengthen students' development of digital literacy and technological skills, starting with AI literacy. Yesterday, MOE has also responded to questions from Members on opportunities for our students to learn about AI.

Together with MOE, we introduced the Code For Fun (CFF) programme to expose students to coding and computational thinking. Since 2020, it has been mandatory for all upper primary school students to go through CFF or a comparable coding programme.

As technology continues to evolve, IMDA and MOE will review the CFF enrichment programme to ensure that it is relevant and up to date. We are working towards introducing new content on AI and data literacy in the refreshed curriculum for 2025.

Outside schools, there are many opportunities for students, young people and members of the public to explore new technology. For instance, community partners like SGBono and VIVITA have been collaborating with the Bedok Social Service Office to bring tech experiences closer to children from less privileged backgrounds who typically would not have such opportunities. Earlier, Members raised many good initiatives in the community.

For the general public, we have programmes like ExperienceIT and MakeIT at our libraries. These showcase emerging technologies and innovations, such as AI, machine learning and 3D printing, through informative displays and hands-on activities. So, please check out these exhibits and showcases at your nearest library.

At the same time, we recognise that some of us may not be ready to take on the more advanced digital skills. We may want to focus first on building the fundamentals to go online safely and use digital services and tools confidently in our daily lives.

To support this, IMDA will launch Digital Skills for Life (DSL) today. In the handout distributed, Members will find a factsheet with more details on DSL. Unlike existing frameworks to equip Singaporeans with digital skills for the workplace or specific sectors, DSL outlines the digital skills to enable Singaporeans to carry out day-to-day tasks online. We have referenced overseas examples and got inputs from experts. But more importantly, we heard from Singaporeans themselves. We learned from our insights from reaching out to more than 280,000 seniors through the Seniors Go Digital programme over the last three years and I would like to especially thank the 16,000 learners who were part of the pilot last year for their valuable feedback.

The DSL framework covers five competencies. Firstly, setting up and using smart devices, how to operate the basic functions on our devices. Secondly, exploring information online. Through the Internet, we can access limitless information and new opportunities. But we need to know how to search, view and retrieve this information safely for our use. Thirdly, communicating online with others. Fourthly, transacting online for greater convenience – accessing banking and Government services, booking healthcare appointments, just to name a few examples. And importantly, fifth, being safe, smart and kind online – understanding how to keep ourselves safe from scams and false information and how to build a positive presence online.

These are all practical skills that can make a real difference to Singaporeans' day-to-day lives. Let me share one example. A few years ago, I met an elderly lady at the SG Digital Community Hub at Heartbeat@Bedok. She was asking our Digital Ambassador many questions on how to use her smartphone and I saw her taking copious notes down on a small, little notepad. She was probably around her late fifties and early sixties, speaking in Mandarin. When I asked what she was learning, her answer both surprised and inspired me. She said that she was a victim of an online scam and she lost some money. She was there to learn how to make sure that this would not happen to her again. So, instead of being fearful and withdrawing, she wanted to confront the issue head on by learning how to safeguard herself.

There are many seniors like that. The Digital Ambassador at the Hub patiently walked her through practical cybersecurity tips that would be useful for all of us. For example, how to create a stronger password instead of just using the default password "Password" which scammers could easily guess. I was most heartened by her resilient spirit and willingness to learn, and we want to support Singaporeans like her with the right tools, resources and competencies to pick up the skills they need.

To do so, we are collaborating with partners under the DfL movement to develop resources in line with the DSL framework. Interested learners can access in-person learning at the SG Digital Community Hubs where Digital Ambassadors and Silver Infocomm Wellness Ambassadors will walk alongside less-digitally savvy Singaporeans on their journeys. Learners can also learn at your own pace and access videos and guidebooks on the Digital for Life Portal. Those who are keen to help their family and friends pick up skills can use these resources to teach them. The digital resources in English will be rolled out progressively from this month, and resources in Mandarin, Malay and Tamil will be available by the first half of this year.

Sir, let me say a few words in Mandarin.

( In Mandarin ) : [ Please refer to Vernacular Speech .] Digital Skills for Life (DSL) is a bottom-up movement, and we hope to see more partners and organisations join in, pooling our efforts to achieve success together.

We will make the relevant content and other teaching materials available online for partners to use for free. This is a small contribution to the global digitalisation process.

Our partners can refer to these resources when conducting digital skills training. They can also use innovative ways to help learning and further promote the DSL movement. For example, turning materials into games to make children's learning more interesting and vivid, or creating audio and video content in dialects to introduce the five basic skills to the elderly.

I hope that everyone will make good use of these resources to benefit more Singaporeans.

The DSL framework is a starting point to help Singaporeans embark on their digital journey. Just as we start learning to write by mastering each stroke, acquiring digital skills must also start from the very basic level. With a solid foundation, as digital technology advances, we will be more confident in learning new skills and keeping up with the times.

We will regularly review this framework to ensure that the content it covers meets our current needs.

( In English ): Let me conclude. Over the years we have made great strides to build our vision of an inclusive and safe digital society. We have a strong "hardware" foundation in terms of access to devices and broadband connectivity. We are strengthening our "software" layer by building up Singaporeans' skills and competencies to navigate the online space safely and confidently to fully benefit from exciting digital opportunities.

However, as many Members have spoken passionately about, we must aspire to go beyond the "hardware" and "software", and nurture our "heartware" on how we treat one another and to foster a kinder online space for all where we make an effort to listen with the aim to understand, instead of shouting to press across our point; where we make an effort to respect another person's viewpoints and find common ground even if we disagree on certain issues; where we make an effort to offer a kind word, instead of joining in to spread negativity.

In our physical world, we are comfortable to let our loved ones walk freely down the street, trusting that they will have pleasant interactions with people and not have to look over their shoulders for threats. We trust that there are norms which govern how we conduct ourselves and interact with one another. We must aspire to bring this to the online space as well where our seniors will be able to go online safely without anxiety; where our children can go online confidently without having the fear of cyberbullying or encountering harmful online content.

But it is all up to us to keep our digital streets safe. Each one of us can play our part to build a safer, more inclusive and kinder digital society. With that, Sir, I support the Motion.

Mr Speaker : Minister Josephine Teo.

The Minister for Communications and Information (Mrs Josephine Teo) : Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of the Motion in the name of Ms Tin Pei Ling and thank her, together with Mr Sharael Taha, Ms Hany Soh, Ms Jessica Tan and Mr Alex Yam, for drawing attention to this important topic.

When the Smart Nation Initiative was launched in 2014, we envisioned Singapore as "a nation where people live meaningful and fulfilled lives, enabled seamlessly by technology, offering exciting opportunities for all."

A decade on, this vision has certainly come alive. Technology has become a big part of our daily lives and 84% of Singaporeans say they have benefited in one way or another. Of every $100 value-added in our economy, at least $17 can now be attributed to digital-related activities. It amounted to $106 billion in 2022, more than financial services and insurance, and comparable with wholesale trade.

There are, today, more than 200,000 tech jobs in Singapore, earning median wages that are higher than that of the resident workforce. Although they represent just over 5% of all jobs, there are thousands more across all other sectors that have been enhanced by digital technologies.

Our aim must be for all Singaporeans to gain from these developments. Senior Minister of State Tan Kiat How has spoken about digital inclusion and the Government's efforts to ensure that benefits are felt by all segments of society.

At the same time, our digital way of life has exposed us to new risks. Cyberattacks, scams and harmful content pose a growing threat to our safety and security. As many Members have noted, trust in society, so crucial for normal human interactions, could be undermined.

I will focus my speech on two topics specifically. The first is what we have we done so far to protect Singaporeans in the digital domain; and the second, what more we need to keep people safe.

Sir, in most domains, Singapore could learn from the examples of many other countries when designing our own governance approach. Unfortunately, in the digital domain, there are few ready playbooks with proven solutions. In fact, Singapore is considered an early mover in digital governance and has been recognised as such.

Mr Mark Lee spoke about the need for our businesses to protect and handle customer information ethically. We moved to address this issue more than a decade ago. In 2012, we introduced the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA), before the EU's General Data Protection Regulation. By 2020, we had amended the Act to strengthen organisational accountability and consumer protection, while bolstering confidence for using personal data for innovation. In 2018, we enacted the Cybersecurity Act to address the threats in cyberspace, particularly those faced by our critical information infrastructure (CII).

Beyond protecting our CII, we have also introduced initiatives to help businesses enhance their cybersecurity posture. Mr Lee recommended developing sector-specific resources. We agree. In the next phase of the SG Cyber Safe Programme for enterprises, CSA will introduce sector-specific cybersecurity initiatives, starting with healthcare and manufacturing.

Also, I had previously announced that we expect to update the Cybersecurity Act so that it remains fit-for-purpose. Public consultations on the proposed amendments are ongoing.

In 2019, recognising the harms of misinformation, we introduced the Prevention of Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA). As a small, multiracial, and multi-religious country, Singapore is particularly vulnerable to falsehoods that deepen fault lines and polarise society. POFMA is a calibrated tool to safeguard the infrastructure of fact. Its usefulness was especially evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, to defend against all kinds of falsehoods about vaccines and COVID-19 related deaths.

In 2021, to counter potential hostile information campaigns launched by other states against us, we introduced the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act (FICA). This helps to ensure that Singapore politics remains only for Singaporeans.

Dr Wan Rizal, Ms Mariam Jaafar and Ms Nadia Samdin spoke about the risks of children being exposed to harmful content online. We have also introduced measures to tackle this. In July 2023, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) launched the Code of Practice for Online Safety. It requires social media services with significant reach or impact in Singapore to put in place measures to minimise users' exposure to harmful content on their platforms. These include additional measures to protect children below-18 years old.

Dr Rizal and Ms Nadia suggested that platforms implement age assurance measures. There is currently no foolproof measure to prevent false age declarations on social media platforms. But the technology has improved. Today, age assurance is achievable to a fairly high degree of accuracy without compromising privacy. MCI and IMDA are monitoring the developments and will study viable regulatory options to better protect children online through age assurance measures.

I am aware that Mr Darryl David will speak about addressing online dangers such as cyber stalking and body shaming, and providing support for victims. Currently, online harassment and doxxing are dealt with under the Protection from Harassment Act 2014. Victims can seek redress through the Protection from Harassment Court, which has served thousands since it was set up in 2021.

The Ministry of Law (MinLaw) is looking further into how victims can be better empowered to put a stop to such online harms, and to seek redress from those responsible. MinLaw's efforts will complement MCI's efforts to enhance the Government's regulatory tool kit, as well as the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)'s efforts to address online criminal harms, which I will say more about later.

Sir, from what I have cited, Members will see that we have actively and progressively introduced new laws and regulations for digital governance. We have consciously avoided a big-bang approach, choosing instead an accretive approach to understand the issues deeply and to move quickly when we identify measures that are likely to be effective.

Where solutions are untested, we have not held back completely. Instead, we have introduced model frameworks or advisory guidelines for voluntary adoption.

We have also developed practical tools to help organisations meet their regulatory obligations, or raised governance standards. This will remain Singapore's approach to digital governance for the foreseeable future. It was, in fact, how we dealt with AI governance. I thank Dr Rizal, Mr Jamus Lim and Ms Mariam for emphasising the importance of responsible AI use and development.

Members may recall that even before we launched our first National AI Strategy or NAIS in 2019, we had introduced a Model AI Governance Framework or MGF – the first of its kind in the region. In 2021, Singapore became one of the first in the world to develop a testing framework and software toolkit for safe and responsible AI, which we call AI Verify.

More recently, we committed to develop Advisory Guidelines on the use of personal data in AI systems, including safeguards to protect personal data of vulnerable groups like children.

Global conversations on AI governance are important. Singapore will continue to participate actively at international fora, such as the Global Partnership on AI and the United Nations' High Level Advisory Board on AI.

As mentioned by Ms Tan and Ms Mariam, we have refreshed our AI strategies through NAIS 2.0. We will soon update our recommendations on dealing with AI risks. For example, we are very concerned about the mis-use of generative AI to spread misinformation and carry out targeted scams.

Mitigating biasness and enhancing the explainability of AI models are also crucial to developing and deploying them responsibly. We aim to release MGF 2.0 for public consultation later this month.

Of all the risks in the digital domain, one category is particularly concerning – and they are scams. This was an issue raised by almost all MPs.

Recent concerns about scams may sound new, but are in fact very similar to past cases of fraud. Older Singaporeans may remember the sale of fake insurance policies in the 1970s. In 2006, Sunshine Empire, which disguised itself as a multi-level marketing company, operated a Ponzi Scheme that promised high returns on fake products and services. In the early 2010s, the SureWin4U Ponzi Scheme lured victims to invest in betting schemes against casinos.

These days, scammers use technology to sell fake jobs, fake love and fake discounted items like eggs or holiday packages. Through variety, speed and scale, they have claimed more victims than before. Whenever I speak with a scam victim and hear their harrowing experience, I am reminded of a very similar panic I experienced as a child.

Back in the 1970s, I lived with my grandmother in an old shophouse in Joo Chiat. On several occasions, we were awakened in the middle of the night to nearby shouts of "Fire! Fire!". We had very little clue as to how far and fast the fire might reach us, only that we must be ready to run for our lives. This kind of fear and helplessness, you never forget.

Today, fire hazards have largely been brought under control and most fire incidents have moderate impact. This is because we have well-trained and well-equipped firefighters to contain fires that do break out. There are regulations, including the Fire Safety Code, to prevent potential fire incidents. We also have the support of organisations and citizens alike, who do their part to create and maintain an environment safe from fires.

In many ways, we are fighting scams like how we successfully fought fires. We have invested resources to strengthen our capabilities to contain the impact of emerging scam campaigns. Two years ago, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) established the Anti-Scam Command (ASCom). This helps to facilitate the swift tracing of funds and freezing of scam-tainted bank accounts. In the first half of 2023, the ASCom froze over 9,000 bank accounts and recovered about $50.8 million of the victims' losses.

We have also put in place tools to limit losses for victims, much like the use of retardants to slow the spread of fires.

Banks have implemented an emergency "kill-switch", so customers can quickly suspend their accounts if they suspect compromise. In November last year, several banks implemented a "Money Lock" feature, allowing customers to set aside an amount in their bank accounts that cannot be transferred digitally.

Another recent example is the lower default daily limit for online CPF withdrawals, which cannot be increased without strong user authentication. Members can also disable online CPF withdrawals easily by activating the CPF Withdrawal Lock, which instantly reduces this limit to $0.

Sir, these containment efforts are helpful but we really prefer to prevent the scams from happening in the first place. Preventive safeguards are easier said than done, as they require close coordination with industry. Several sets of measures have been or are being implemented.

First, we will keep closing off known avenues for scammers to reach prospective victims. Members will recall that not too long ago, scammers were spoofing the SMS IDs of key organisations to trick victims into giving their banking credentials. To counter this, IMDA introduced a novel solution. From January last year, all organisations that want to send SMSes using alphanumeric sender IDs had to register with the Singapore SMS Sender ID Registry (SSIR). SMSes from unregistered senders are labelled "Likely-SCAM" to alert phone users.

The SSIR has been effective. Cases of scam SMSes fell by 70% in the first three months that it was mandated and remain a minority – less than 5% – among new cases reported. Additionally, telcos have implemented firewalls within their networks to proactively block suspicious calls and calls that attempt to spoof local numbers. These efforts have also been helpful. The volume of suspicious international calls blocked in 2023 has nearly doubled compared to a year ago. To further protect the public, telcos have now introduced an option for subscribers to block their mobile phones from receiving international calls, which is a common source of scam calls.

Sir, whilst we can introduce blocking measures, we must expect the scammers to keep starting fires in new ways. As mentioned by Mr Ong, scammers are increasingly abusing online platforms to deceive their potential victims. To deal with this more effectively, we introduced the Online Criminal Harms Act (OCHA), which will be progressively implemented from this year. Many Members supported the Bill and I thank them again.

This Act will allow authorities to order the swift blocking of online accounts or content suspected to be used for crimes, including scams. For the protection of consumer on high-risk platforms, we will also impose ex-ante requirements such as stricter requirements for identity verification.

The second set of preventive safeguards aim to disrupt fraudulent transactions, even after a victim has been tricked. This includes preventing Singpass accounts from being taken over. It is why last year, we introduced more friction into the authentication process for Singpass.

When conducting high-risk transactions, users are required to perform facial verification. To protect against impersonation attempts, which Ms Hazel Poa asked about, facial verification includes liveness checks, which guards against attacks such as using a still photo.

Facial verification was also introduced as an additional safeguard for high-risk CPF e-services. Since then, there have been no further losses to scams due to unauthorised CPF withdrawals.

Also last year, we observed the emergence of scammers exploiting malware to bypass existing safeguards and make unauthorised fraudulent transactions on victims' accounts. Having identified this new scam variant, we worked with the banks to enhance their fraud and malware detection capabilities. Compromised devices were prevented from transacting with the banks. We cannot quantify it but millions more dollars could otherwise have been lost.

Ultimately, our devices themselves must be better able to defend against malware attacks launched by scammers – Ms Tin spoke about this. We are therefore working with key industry players to enhance the security of mobile devices sold in Singapore. For instance, we are working with Google to design new features that can better detect and deter users from downloading malicious files onto Android devices.

The third set of measures involve harsher consequences to deter money mules from misusing our key digital services, such as Singpass, to perpetrate scams. We have recently tightened our legislation to criminalise individuals who intentionally disclose their Singpass credentials in aid of scams. We are also reviewing how to extend these principles to those who sell SIM cards to scammers.

Sir, fighting scams is a team effort and the Government cannot do it alone. Ms Tan spoke about the need for platform players, telcos and device manufacturers to do more to improve online safety for their users. We agree. As mentioned by Mr Ong and Mr Tan, we need companies to ensure that their customers can enjoy a safe and secure environment as they interact online.

Last August, OCBC was among the first banks in Singapore to disallow account access, if the bank app detected the presence of potentially risky mobile apps on the customers' devices. Some customers felt inconvenienced, but in fact, they may have been among those that were saved from at least $2 million in losses in the first month of roll-out. The MAS has since worked with other major banks to implement similar safeguards.

Several MPs also spoke about the need for larger companies to take more responsibility to mitigate scams by unauthorised transactions. This year, the upcoming Shared Responsibility Framework (SRF) will further enhance the accountability of the banks and telcos in protecting their customers from the threat of phishing scams. During the public consultation on the SRF, many suggestions were received, which are similar to those raised today. They relate to the expansion of coverage to more scam types and more entities, besides banks and telcos.

The SRF covers phishing scams because such scams were the main contributor to fraudulent transactions taking place without the consumer's knowledge and consent when SRF was first conceived. Compared to the payout frameworks in other jurisdictions, which only impose obligations on banks, the SRF already holds a wider scope of entities accountable by including telcos.

Duties are also specified to clearly hold banks and telcos accountable to the victims. Even if there is no breach of duty and, hence, no payout under SRF, there are other avenues of recourse for victims. These include banks' goodwill frameworks, which can provide some comfort to victims of new scam tactics. As was shared in Parliament last year, MAS has leaned on the banks to be more accommodative in applying their goodwill frameworks.

These complementary measures notwithstanding, the Government will consider how to enhance the accountability of key entities and strengthen protection for individuals within SRF or through other means that are available to us.

We hear the specific calls to include social media platforms and closed-messaging services, in particular, for scam variants involving malware and phishing that result in unauthorised transactions. I appreciate Mr Vikram Nair and Ms Hazel Poa's acknowledgment that there are trade-offs and moral hazards to consider and that the Government cannot take a one-size-fits-all approach.

With regard to physical tokens, these are available upon customer request. I should caution, however, that existing physical tokens may be resistant to malware, but they are still vulnerable to phishing tactics. Agencies are, therefore, studying longer-term solutions, such as the Fast IDentity Online (FIDO) passkeys that were mentioned by Ms Tin.

Sir, I thank Members who have recognised the many steps we are taking and also the challenges our agencies face, such as those identified by Mr Vikram Nair. To Mr Yip Hon Weng's suggestion to learn from best practices abroad, we have been proactive. Our efforts include exchanging information on the latest scam variants and strategies to combat scams.

However, all of these efforts notwithstanding, this may still beg the question, "Has Singapore been slack in fighting scams?"

On the contrary, Singapore is widely regarded as a leader in thought and action when it comes to battling scams. When interacting with our international counterparts, I can only share with you how much they marvel at some of the initiatives that we have put in place, which they consider quite unthinkable in their own context and still quite cutting edge. And these include widespread call blocking, the SMS Sender ID Registry (SSIR) and the kill switches that the banks now use; and also CPF Board.

The fact that we have an Anti-Scam Command, which involves the co-location of banks and, soon, other entities that we are speaking with; the fact that we have ScamShield; and something that people in the trade are very interested about: the backend processes that none of us will get to talk about in this room – among the agencies and all the stakeholders to smoothen the process of following up on leads – that is something that they find very difficult to even bring about.

Many measures have also reduced the losses – stemmed the losses – to a very significant extent. So, then that begs the question, "What about these rankings that you come across that named Singapore as one of these top places in terms of how much victims have lost?"

Well, I can only say this. In many places, scam victims are not going to take the trouble to report the fact that they have been scammed, because they do not expect whichever authority they report to, to be able to do anything about it. And so, when these kinds of reports are a function of reporting, what this really tells us is that reporting levels in Singapore are very high. This is, of course, not to trivialise the amounts lost. But I think we have to recognise that fact.

In this regard, I think we also have to recognise that our members of the public have been quite remarkable in terms of their openness and willingness to pay attention to public education efforts on scams. I appreciate that it sometimes makes them quite anxious – because they keep hearing about it when they are at the bus stop, they see it when they are at the void deck and they see the digital display panels and then they go to a grassroots event and the Member of Parliament is also advising them to listen to the Police talk about anti-scam measures. So, I appreciate this. It gives a certain sense of anxiety.

But it is an essential part of our overall scam defence which we cannot avoid and which we aim to fortify through a variety of means. And so, the question is: what more can we do?

First, let us take a step back and acknowledge that all countries recognise that when it comes to dealing with scams, there is really no silver bullet. There is not a single measure that you can implement and be done with it. In the trade, they call this a wicked problem. In cyber as well as in scams, you solve one problem, the bad actors are driven somewhere else and you have to start again.

Therefore, an agile approach is critical and a very good example is how we had to very quickly pivot to dealing with the malware-enabled scams which had not been conceived of before and had not been seen before. It is very easy to say that, "You should have anticipated it." Not so easy in reality.

The last thing, in this context, is not for us to politicise the debate or to vilify any group because you do not know when the next scam variant comes around who you need to work with to try and solve the problem. So, vilifying any group is not a good idea and we should very consciously try to avoid this. This is a problem that has emerged and we have observed in other countries. This is one lesson that we are taking away. Do not go around vilifying various groups and saying that you should have done this, you should have done that. We will need them at some point. It is better to preserve the relationship and find ways to work together.

So, in this context, I was listening carefully to Members' contributions and I appreciate all of them a great deal. I could not help but notice that, amongst the Members who spoke from the Workers' Party, there was this term that was repeated quite a few times. This is what Mr Vikram Nair also responded to. He said that he disagreed with this idea that there is a crisis of confidence.

I am not sure what the purpose of describing this problem this way is. We do have a situation that we are dealing with and we are taking it very seriously. But let me perhaps offer a viewpoint from the agencies and the officers who are looking at this problem and listening to this debate and share what it comes across like to them.

This is a bit like, you know, firefighters on the frontline. You are trying all ways and means to, firstly, figure out what is the terrain that you are working with and trying to push back the fire, not let it spread. And there, we have a group of bystanders who are, you know, instead of praying for them, encouraging them, we are saying to them: you should be doing this, you should be doing that – pontificating.

And then, when they do manage to put out some fires, with great effort and actually getting ready to fight the next fire because they know it is coming, the very same bystanders say, "Thank goodness, I said that." You know, see, how wonderful!

I say to Members, have a care. This is a tough fight and I think our agencies and all the people involved they are not just public officers. By all means recognise the fact that there are also private sector players involved. It is hard work. And I think one of the Members said it is quite thankless. I believe it was Ms Hany Soh who said so and I appreciate her for acknowledging that. So, let us cheer them on. It is not so easy.

So, Sir, overall, I am still very glad that all parties support the Motion and have largely avoided grandstanding. I call on Members to please use your own networks and your social media influence not to spread this, you know, very easy labels, to tag onto something like this, but to spread awareness of the tools that can really help people. I think that is a far better use of your social media influence. Use it appropriately.

And my humble appeal to all Members who have contributed your ideas and suggestions, please give our agencies time to consider the feedback and to prioritise what is most needle-moving, because, actually, it will not be a matter of doing more, but doing more of the right things continuously. At any one time, we will be introducing new measures while designing some more. In fact, I would like to announce three today.

As apps are the most common way to transact online, we also need app developers to design for security. This is why Cyber Security Agency (CSA) is publishing a new recommended Safe App Standard (Standard) that app developers should adopt to ensure that high-risk monetary transactions performed on their apps are secure.

The Standard will set out best practices that reduce the risk of malicious actors exploiting weaknesses in the app design. For example, apps could be designed to require additional authentication of a user before authorising high-risk transactions, such as those providing access to our assets or savings.

The Standard will also recommend that developers build in malware detection capabilities on their apps, since this feature has proven to be effective in disrupting scammers' unauthorised transactions using compromised devices. CSA will incorporate more of such effective practices in the Standard as they emerge or as the technologies evolve.

CSA will also consider how best to help end-users easily identify apps that meet these Standards. As the Standard is new, we will assess its usefulness in due course and whether to keep it voluntary or make it mandatory.

Besides apps that people use, we must also better protect vulnerable segments. To strengthen safeguards against them being tricked into signing up and footing the bill for phone lines used for scams, IMDA has published the Advisory Guidelines for telcos to protect vulnerable consumers.

It calls for measures to help frontline staff identify vulnerable consumers during service sign-up and handle cases of suspected exploitation. The Guidelines also encourage telcos to waive charges for vulnerable consumers who have fallen victim to scams. Arising from earlier cases encountered, MHA is also exploring ways to better protect the public, particularly those who continue to believe the scammers, despite being warned by the Police and even their own family members.

As the landscape evolves, we will need to grow new capabilities to keep pace with scammers and online risks. Several Members mentioned the misuse of deepfakes to create compelling pitches, such as the recent ads featuring our leaders' likeness to promote crypto scams. We are most concerned about this.

As a first step, MCI and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) will officially launch the Centre for Advanced Technologies in Online Safety (CATOS). The Centre will be a platform to bring together our community of research partners, companies and practitioners in Singapore to build capabilities for a safer Internet.

Such capabilities may include tools and measures to: (a) detect harmful content, such as deepfakes and non-factual claims; (b) inject watermarks or trace the origin of digital content; and (c) empower vulnerable groups with resources to verify information they encounter online.

These research efforts will also help inform new legislation or regulations that we will need for issues, such as deepfakes, and which we are studying. As Ms Tan pointed out, even with extensive efforts by the Government and businesses, we must each do our part as individuals to remain vigilant online.

First, we should adopt measures that can mitigate the risks of scams, even if they may seem inconvenient or unnecessarily strict. This could mean downloading and enabling the ScamShield app or turning on multi-factor authentication for online services. We should avoid downloading apps from unfamiliar sources and avoid responding to suspicious videos promising guaranteed returns on investments or giveaways. When accessing websites, individuals should also exercise vigilance by always checking the URL in the address bar of their web browser.

We agree with Mr Ong that consumer banking and messaging service providers can do more to prompt users to adopt such habits. The Government will continue working with key industry players to further strengthen efforts to raise public awareness.

Second, we should educate ourselves on the latest scam trends and anti-scam measures such as those on ScamAlert.sg. We should use available tools to make more informed decisions when transacting online. These include the E-commerce Marketplace Transaction Safety Ratings (TSR), which provide information on how secure an e-commerce platform is against scams.

Even as we continue our efforts to stop scams and recover losses, we must not forget about the trauma experienced by victims. We understand the panic and anxiety that victims go through. That is why the SPF has trained volunteer Victim Care Officers to provide emotional and practical support to victims. The Anti-Scam Resource Guide on SPF's website also sets out additional avenues of community support.

Mr Sharael Taha suggested reviewing the process of freezing bank accounts for the entire duration of the investigation period. SPF only freezes bank accounts when there is reason to suspect that they are involved in criminal activities. The time taken for investigations can differ from case to case.

Victims with frozen bank accounts may be offered new ones by banks, which may come with restricted access to certain facilities, or be subject to enhanced monitoring measures. But these will still meet basic banking needs such as receiving salaries and Government support. Victims can also make an application to the Courts to withdraw money for reasonable living or other legitimate expenses. Mr Speaker, please allow me to conclude in Mandarin.

Mr Speaker : Minister, you have about two minutes. Would that be enough? If not, I would suggest that the Leader of the House moves —

Mrs Josephine Teo : I will make it.

Mr Speaker : Alright. Go ahead.

Mrs Josephine Teo : ( In Mandarin ) : [ Please refer to Vernacular Speech .] Mr Speaker, firstly, I would like to reiterate my support for the Motion put forward by Ms Tin Pei Ling.

Singapore's digital journey has brought great benefits, such as new economic opportunities for our people and businesses. However, it has also introduced new risks, including digitally-enabled scams that many people are concerned about.

Therefore, the Government must enable our people to ride the wave of opportunities arising from our digital transformation, whilst doing everything possible to strengthen safety and trust in our digital domain.

To this end, the Government has prioritised efforts to deal with scams. Many measures have been implemented and proven to be effective. However, as the scammers evolve their tactics, we too must update our counter measures.

The Government will introduce three new measures to further strengthen our defences against scams. They are: enhancing the security of mobile applications; advisory guidelines for telcos to protect vulnerable consumers; and efforts to develop advanced technologies to combat scams.

There is no silver bullet in the fight against scams; neither can the Government do it alone. This is a long-term battle that requires everyone's cooperation.

But I believe that with persistent efforts and contributions from everyone, the battle can eventually be won. Thank you.

Mr Speaker : And you still have 30 seconds to spare. Ms Sylvia Lim.

7.33 pm

Ms Sylvia Lim (Aljunied) : Thank you, Mr Speaker. I would like to respond to the Minister for Communications and Information's reference to what myself and my colleagues have mentioned about moving towards a crisis of confidence.

First of all, I would like to state categorically that in my speech, I did not do so to politicise the issue or to create panic. My desire was to actually reflect what I see as the current sentiment in significant sections of the public. I would like to offer five reasons, if I may, on how I come to this opinion.

First of all, according to the IMDA's Singapore Digital Society Report released in November, the statistics show that 99% of persons aged 60 and above are worried about becoming scam victims. Ninety-nine percent. That is almost 100% of the people in this age group who are worried about becoming scam victims.

Secondly, today, during the course of the debate, we have also heard of MPs talking about residents ignoring official communications because they cannot tell whether this is authentically from the Government or if it is a scam message. So, messages to enrol in Healthier SG are ignored.

Third, I think we all know the statistics of scam losses. As the Minister herself pointed out, the fact that there is so much public education now, may also lead to feelings of anxiety in the public, which I think are very real.

Fourth, I myself have received feedback from members of the public who expressed the desire to take their accounts offline. These could include retirees, with their CPF transactions and so on. I do not think they are isolated incidents.

Last of all, the fifth reason I would offer is that with the setting up of this new task force on Resilience and Security of Digital Infrastructure and Services, I believe that its purpose is to oversee matters of public confidence.

So, I would argue that there is a serious issue with public confidence and I think it is borne out by these factors that I have mentioned. And I also acknowledged the work done by the agencies – it is not that we are ignorant of such. Of course, we do appreciate it and realise that it is a big task and a 24/7 effort.

So, Mr Speaker, I would argue that I believe I am entitled to my opinion, just as the Minister is entitled her opinion.

Mrs Josephine Teo : Mr Speaker, I appreciate Ms Lim for her clarifications. I do not think there is a question that we are each entitled to our opinions. This was not a question of opinion at all. It is simply to say that following the debate, whatever goes on to social media for the benefit of the people who are not able to take part in this discussion, I hope that messages being put out by MPs do not simply use very sensational, glaring headlines.

I would very much appreciate if we can keep our efforts focused on the actual things that will make a difference. That is all I am asking for. I appreciate that if there is alignment on this issue across the aisle. And I would also urge MPs – let us try to keep it that way. It is the only way we can win this war against the scammers.

Mr Speaker : Mr Darryl David.

7.37 pm

Mr Darryl David (Ang Mo Kio) : Mr Speaker, Sir, the Motion today, "Building an Inclusive and Safe Digital Society", is a very broad one. Indeed, we have heard views approaching this topic from many different angles.

In my capacity as Deputy Chairman of the GPCs for Culture, Community and Youth and Education, I would like to focus on the issue of online harms and the impact of online harms on two specific groups in our community – women and children. And also from an education perspective, what more can be done to help mitigate the impact of online harms through education.

Although there has yet to be a universally accepted definition of what constitute online harms, this can be broadly described as online behaviour that may directly or indirectly hurt a person physically or emotionally, harmful information that is posted online or information sent to a person via electronic means.

Increasingly, countries are realising the dangers of online harms and the adverse impacts they could have on vulnerable communities. The UK passed the Online Safety Bill in October 2023 to protect people, especially children, from online harms.

In Singapore, we have taken active steps to mitigate the danger of online harms by introducing the Codes of Practice for Online Safety and the Content Code for Social Media Services in 2022 and also passing the Online Criminal Harms Act, as was referenced earlier in the debate, in 2023.

While these codes of conducts and regulations were introduced and passed in good faith and they are laudable and much needed attempts to make online spaces safer, they are also broad strokes that probably do not adequately capture the complexities of online harms.

Mr Speaker, Sir, the online world is in many ways just as if not more diverse than the offline physical world. Online harms are notoriously nebulous and regulating them is difficult because, although they are undesirable and morally questionable, many of them are not, strictly speaking, illegal. For instance, how do we define and regulate trolling, cancel campaigns and the issue of body shaming online? Different people would understand and interpret them somewhat differently, depending on whether they are engaging those activities or are on the receiving end of such behaviours.

These online behaviours, although not illegal, can cause severe mental distress, emotional anguish and diminish the self-worth of victims, even causing victims to experience physical harm if left unchecked over prolonged period.

I believe there is an urgent need to tackle these non-illegal but distressful online harms since they are more likely to happen on a day-to-day basis on social media platforms, thereby impacting a wider community, and are harder to detect and act on than overt online dangers such as terrorism propaganda, child sexual abuse and other exploitation materials.

I would like to speak now on having a more nuanced topology on online danger and online harms.

Overt online danger such as terrorism propaganda, sexual exploitation and abuse, threats to racial and religious harmony and public health are entirely different from online harms such as cyberstalking, body shaming, unwanted sexual attention, trolling and cancel campaigns. So, bundling them together within the same topology of undesirable online content could sometimes risk obfuscating the nature and impact of these online harms, potentially reducing the efficacy of remedy or remedial actions that can be undertaken.

The World Economic Forum has recently developed a Topology of Online Harms that had provided a more nuanced breakdown of such harms, examining them from content production, distribution, consumption and whether such harms took place through interactions with others – contact-based – or were through behaviours facilitated by technology, which is more based on conduct.

I believe there is a need for us to adopt a similar approach to classify online harms in Singapore in a more nuanced manner, so that we can build a more robust regulatory framework on online harms, implement target-based upstream preventive education in schools and communities to inoculate as we educate Singaporeans, especially women and children, against online harms and provide victim-centric downstream remediation support by working with civil societies and other groups to offer accessible legal and non-legal assistance.

Mr Speaker, Sir, a recent study by RySense, Sunshine Alliance for Action and MCI highlighted that almost 50% of the sample have experienced some form of online harm – not surprisingly, with women less likely to feel safe online and feeling more likely to be targets of online harms. What is worrisome is the unwillingness of victims to seek remediation with the top three reasons being: (a) the belief that perpetrators will not be brought to justice due to anonymity of the Internet; (b) ineffectual reporting channels of social media platforms; and (c) victims not knowing what to do.

Separately, in a report titled "10 Online Harm Myths" published by SG Her Empowerment, women between the age of 25 and 34 are more likely to suffer from online harms and a good portion of youths believe that online harms are less serious than offline ones and would stop once you go offline. Worryingly, there are also youths who believe that women who upload images online should be accepting of negative comments; as in, it is acceptable to receive sexually explicit images even when unrequested. These beliefs are quite disturbing.

The results from the two studies are telling.

First, they suggest that the actual number of victims of online harms might be higher than we think because many victims are unwilling to come forward to disclose their experience because they feel that disclosure and reporting would not make much difference to their ordeals.

Second, the results also suggest that not only is there a general lack of awareness about such harms, but there is also a certain level of apathy among youths on the possible repercussions arising from these harms, ironically when they themselves are more likely to be the target of such behaviours.

Extending this line of argument further, the lack of awareness and being apathetic towards online harms might result in youths becoming unintentional perpetrators of such behaviours.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I believe there is a need for us to stem and stop such misbeliefs among victims and youths by adopting victim-centric education and remediation.

First, I would like to encourage MOE to create mandatory online learning modules for students to better understand the wrongful content nature of online harms, how their distribution and consumption will cause distress and hurt to victims and where to seek help if they are victims. Just as how some companies require their employees to complete annual mandatory e-learning exercises and quizzes on the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA), for example, perhaps all students in Singapore above a certain age must complete the module and obtain a minimum score in the online harms quiz.

Second, I hope that we can take a more strident position on perpetrators of online harms, bearing in mind the long-term scarring impact that such harms might have on victims. When social media platforms take down identified offensive online content, can they consider banning or restricting the offending IP address from accessing their platforms or from creating new social media accounts?

Third, at present, I believe there is only one dedicated centre – SG Her Empowerment – where victims of online harms can seek assistance. Could the Government consider working with other civil society groups, especially community-based ones, to provide additional avenues for victims of online harms to seek for assistance?

To further encourage victims of online harms to seek for help and to increase their confidence that actions will be taken against perpetrators, would the Government then consider with working even with social media platforms to compile an annual report of the number of online harm cases reported, the number of successful actions taken, the type of actions taken against the perpetrators and the number of convictions made in a year?

I believe making these statistics and the identification even of convicted perpetrators available will give victims the assurance that their voices are being heard and actions will be taken to safeguard their online safety.

Mr Speaker, Sir, Singapore has been a forerunner in tackling potential harms of the Internet. We began to take a serious view on misinformation and disinformation in 2017 when we conducted a review on our existing laws to combat fake news. When the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act was passed in 2019, we were one of the first countries in the world to pass a law tackling online falsehoods. So, we are leaders in this field.

With generative AI and deepfakes opening up a new frontier on online harms, I believe that it is timely that we calibrate our approach towards online harms by taking a more serious view on them and thereby making a digital indeed, not just inclusive, but a safe space for our community. With that, I end my speech in firm support of the Motion.

Mr Speaker : Ms Tin Pei Ling. Hold on. Mr Leong, do you have a clarification? It should be a clarification and not a speech.

7.47 pm

Mr Leong Mun Wai (Non-Constituency Member) : Thank you, Mr Speaker, Sir. I just have one question for Minister Josephine Teo.

I am glad that many Members have pointed out that digital inclusivity is also about ensuring that digital systems are inclusive and user-friendly and not deployed just for profit-seeking by businesses. That indeed is PSP's core position as presented by my colleague, Ms Hazel Poa.

In view that, I would like to ask the Minister how she will respond in relation to what we have discussed and debated today about digital inclusivity, how she will respond to the many negative feedback from Singaporeans about SimplyGo. Incidents like SimplyGo will affect the trust in digital systems in the long run.

Mrs Josephine Teo : Mr Speaker, I invite Mr Leong to file a Parliamentary Question on that. I think that will be more appropriate, so that a proper response can be given.

Mr Speaker : I agree. Ms Tin Pei Ling.

7.49 pm

Ms Tin Pei Ling (MacPherson) : Sir, it has been my great privilege to debate in this House on taking a whole-of-nation approach to sustain trust through a safe and inclusive digital society.

Our PAP MPs, Ms Jessica Tan, Mr Sharael Taha, Ms Hany Soh, Ms Nadia Samdin, Dr Wan Rizal, Mr Yip Hon Weng, Ms Mariam Jaafar, Mr Vikram Nair and Mr Darryl David have put forth a total of 13 calls to action, many more, if we double click into these calls of action, calling on our Government, industry players and individuals, like you and me, to play a more proactive role in ensuring a safe and inclusive online environment as Singapore continues to forge ahead into the digital future. I thank my Parliamentary colleagues for working on and making these calls.

Past Parliament Sittings have seen colleagues from both sides of the aisle raising questions and putting forth suggestions on different issues pertaining to both opportunities and risks that come with digitalisation. Hence, I am heartened that we have had a robust debate on this Motion in this House today and most of all, I am heartened by the echos of support for the Motion, from both sides of the aisle, that the GPC for Communications and Information has put forth.

And I sincerely appreciate the interest and support from the Workers' Party, namely, Ms Sylvia Lim, Assoc Prof Jamus Lim and Mr Gerald Giam as well as the Progress Singapore Party, Ms Hazel Poa and, of course, our Nominated Members of Parliament (NMPs), Assoc Prof Razwana Begum Abdul Rahim, Mr Ong Hua Han, Ms Usha Chandradas, Mr Mark Lee and Ms Jean See, in this Moton debate as well.

I will not recap everyone's points and suggestions, but I have gained useful insights from all of you in this House.

Through the debate, it is clear that Singapore is not alone in facing the challenges that come along with digitalisation. Challenges, such as scams and online harms, have been a global issue. Advanced economies, like the US, UK and Europe are also still in the process of better understanding the issues and formulating responses and safeguards to better protect their own citizens, given the evolving nature of these risks and challenges.

That being the case, having heard from Minister Josephine Teo and Senior Minister of State Tan Kiat How earlier, I believe we can feel more assured now, with the many initiatives and safeguards that the Government has already put in place to protect and enable our citizens in the digital economy and digital society.

These include pooling of resources and expertise, tools, codes and legislation to tackle scams, harmful online content, misinformation and data protection, as well as financial assistance and support schemes to enable digital access and empower the vulnerable.

Given the many initiatives implemented at different points of time, some publicised and some not, it is sometimes easy to misunderstand the Government as being too slow, too slacked, uncaring and only favouring business or money. But arising from this debate, I am glad to note the suite of Government initiatives in place to detect, deter and protect Singaporeans. The "big picture" is a lot clearer now.

So, instead of claiming that there is a "crisis of confidence" in Singapore towards digital, it is more appropriate to note that Singapore has been proactive in tackling the challenges, when some advanced countries actually found it unthinkable to do.

I am also especially appreciative that the Government has been open to our 13 calls to action and committed to taking actions on our calls made.

Ultimately, both sides of this House do not disagree that digitalisation has and will continue to bring benefits to our nation and our people.

But there are risks that we must manage and we will, because it is debilitating if we stop moving forward and living our lives, just because we are worried about all the possible consequences outside. I should add that we need to also recognise that there is always a balance to be struck. While we want rigour in how we manage risks and prevent harms to our people, we also want to ensure that we do not add disproportionate amount of friction to digital transactions or meaningful innovations. So, let us also be mindful that there will be trade-offs.

Still, it remains that we all need to do more. If everyone is willing to take on a larger share of the responsibility, we can protect more people and reduce the possible harms to the ordinary citizen.

( In Mandarin ) : [ Please refer to Vernacular Speech .] Earlier on, I mentioned the opportunities and challenges brought forth by digital transformation. Online harm is also evolving rapidly, as the Chinese saying goes "the higher the level, the greater the devil". I hope that through the combined efforts of the Government, businesses and the people, we can defeat the devils even as they get more sophisticated. Thus, we will be able to build an inclusive and safe digital society with deep trust.

( In English ): As I conclude, I would like to echo what my fellow Parliamentary colleagues have expounded in this debate. With stronger partnerships between the Government, industry players and our people, Singapore can be the beacon and lead the world in fostering trust in the digital future, through a safe and inclusive digital society. [ Applause .]

Mr Speaker : Any clarifications for Ms Tin? No.

[(proc text) Question put, and agreed to. (proc text)]

[(proc text) Resolved, "That this House reaffirms our commitment to adopt a whole-of-nation approach to sustain trust by building an inclusive and safe digital society." (proc text)]

Mr Speaker : Leader of the House.