A proposed law targeted at combating foreign interference has been introduced in Parliament on Monday (13 Sep).

Under the Bill, the Minister for Home Affairs will have the powers to issue directions to various entities “to help the authorities investigate and counter hostile communications activity that is of foreign origin”, said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in a release on Monday.

Such entities include social media services, relevant electronic services, internet access services, as well as persons who own or run websites, blogs or social media pages.

The Bill also empowers the Minister to issue Technical Assistance Directions against “where suspicious content is carried” and to compel the carrier of the content “to disclose information required for the authorities to determine if the harmful communications activity is being undertaken by or on behalf of a foreign principal”.

Such carriers encompass social media services, relevant electronic services, internet access services, and those who own or run websites or social media pages.

A Technical Assistance Direction can be issued if the Minister suspects that there are preparations or plans to undertake an online communication activity in Singapore by or on behalf of a foreign principal, and the Minister is of the opinion that it is in the public interest to issue the direction, said MHA.

If there is reason to believe that social media or relevant electronic service user accounts are being used, or being set up with the intent of being used for “hostile foreign principals” (HICs), the Minister will be able to issue Account Restriction Directions to the providers of these services.

These directions will require them to block content in these accounts from being viewed in Singapore, said the Ministry.

The Bill provides the Minister with the powers to take down content that is part of a HIC. This is especially necessary when the content can cause immediate and significant harm in Singapore, such as inciting violence or causing hostility between groups. This consists of three types of direction:

• A Stop Communication (End-User) Direction, where the communicator will be required to cease communication of specific HIC content to viewers in Singapore;
• A Disabling Direction, where Internet intermediaries will be required to stop the communication of specific HIC content in Singapore; and
• An Access Blocking Direction, where the Minister may order Internet access service providers to block access to the HIC content in the event that Internet intermediaries or communicators fail to comply with these directions.

A Service Restriction Direction will require social media services, relevant electronic services and internet service providers to take practicable and technically feasible actions to restrict the dissemination of HIC content. This could include disabling or limiting functions that allow content to become viral.

An App Removal Direction can be issued to require an app distribution service to stop apps known to be used by foreign principals to conduct HICs, from being downloaded in Singapore. This direction can be given if the app has previously been subject to at least one direction, except for Technical Assistance Direction or another App Removal Direction, said MHA.

The Bill will also introduce powers to require various parties to carry a mandatory message from the Government, in a conspicuous and timely manner. The intent is to be able to warn Singaporeans about a HIC. The Must-Carry Direction can take four forms:

• A Class 1 Must-Carry Direction requires the communicator to carry this message.
• A Class 2 Must-Carry Direction requires social media services or relevant electronic services where HIC content is carried to do likewise.
• A Class 3 Must-Carry Direction requires social media services, relevant electronic services, as well as telecommunication companies, newspapers and broadcasting licensees to carry a mandatory message if a HIC is afoot, even if the content has not been carried on their platform.
• A Class 4 Must-Carry Direction requires the owner or operator of a Proscribed Online Location to carry a message on the online location, so that Singaporeans accessing it are aware of its proscription.

“We also want to be able to cripple the source of funding for harmful online content that is undertaken by or on behalf of a foreign principal,” said MHA.

This will be undertaken via a Disgorgement Direction, which could compel Singapore citizens, permanent residents, and locally registered entities to return money or material support accepted for the enabling or publishing of the information/materials of concern to either the foreign principal who provided the funding or support, or to surrender the amount received to the competent authority.

The Stop Communication Direction, Disabling Direction, Access Blocking Direction, Service Restriction Direction, App Remove Direction, Must-Carry Direction and Disgorgement Direction can be issued if all of the following conditions are met:

• There is communications activity taking place, or has already taken place;
• The communications activity is conducted by or on behalf of a foreign principal;
• There is information or material published in Singapore as a result of the communications activity; and
• After having regard to the circumstances of the case, the Minister assesses that it is in the public interest to authorise the giving of these directions.

The Bill will also provide for measures to target HIC platforms, such as websites created by the foreign principals to publish HIC content against Singapore.

The Minister can proscribe an online location that is a purveyor of HIC content, once that online location has been the subject of at least one direction under this Bill, excluding Technical Assistance Directions.

These Proscribed Online Locations (POLs) must then declare themselves as such, and no one will be allowed to purchase advertisement space on these POLs or on other websites that promote the POLs.

“The aim is to discredit and de-monetise these POLs in order to stem their ability to mount further HICs against Singapore,” said the Ministry.

Failure to comply with these measures will be deemed an offence, said MHA.

Provisions do not apply to S’poreans “unless they are agents of a foreign principal”: MHA

Provisions in the proposed law, however, do not apply to Singaporeans expressing their own views on political matters, unless they are agents of a foreign principal, as “Singaporeans have the right to discuss politics”, said MHA.

“Nor do they apply to foreign individuals or foreign publications reporting or commenting on Singapore politics, in an open, transparent and attributable way, even if their comments may be critical of Singapore or the Government,” the Ministry added.

Bill will lend Govt “legislative levers” to detect activity by “hostile foreign principals”: MHA

The Bill, said MHA, will lend the Government the “legislative levers” to detect “sophisticated range of tools and tactics” deployed in “a coordinated manner” by HICs.

Such moves, said the Ministry, may include:

• Creating and using inauthentic accounts to mislead users about their identity and credibility, for example, by purporting to be a bona fide local person or organisation. These accounts may subsequently be used to spread messages aimed at stirring unrest and discontent among different local communities (e.g. xenophobic or racist messages);
• Using bots on social media platforms or taking out advertisements to artificially boost the reach of these messages (e.g. by actively engaging or reposting content at an extremely high frequency);
• Using inauthentic accounts and bots in combination to engineer an artificial sense that there is strong public support or opposition to a certain position or sentiment;
• Inciting other users to “troll”, harass or intimidate a particular target; and
• Creating accounts or pages and cultivating a public following by posting on benign topics such as fashion and lifestyle, before using the same accounts or pages to push out political messages subsequently.

“More recently, we have observed a shift from widespread interference operations to more specific ‘retail’ operations, to evade detection. These operations use fewer accounts, focus on narrowly targeted audiences, and spend more time creating a credible persona that is less easily detected,” said MHA.

Bill will “strengthen our ability to counter foreign interference”, like other countries that have introduced similar laws: MHA

Touching on why it is opting to combat foreign interference via this proposed legislation, MHA said that such interference “poses a serious threat to our political sovereignty and national security”.

“During a HIC, hostile foreign actors can seek to mislead Singaporeans on political issues, stir up dissent and disharmony by playing up controversial issues such as race and religion, or seek to undermine confidence and trust in public institutions.

“For example, when Singapore faced bilateral issues with another country in late 2018 and 2019, there was an abnormal spike in online comments critical of Singapore on social media.

“These posts, made by anonymous accounts, sought to create an artificial impression of opposition to Singapore’s positions. The Select Committee on Online Falsehoods in 2018 warned that foreign state-linked disinformation efforts were likely already occurring in Singapore,” said the Ministry.

Thus, it is important for the Government to strengthen its “detection and response capabilities” as well as “Singaporeans’ ability to discern legitimate and artificial online discourse”.

“To complement these efforts, our laws need to evolve, just as other countries have introduced new laws to tackle foreign interference.

“This Bill will strengthen our ability to counter foreign interference, and ensure that Singaporeans continue to make our own choices on how we should govern our country and live our lives,” said MHA.

Penalties for individuals under the proposed legislation range from a fine not exceeding S$100,000 and or imprisonment up to fourteen years or both. Entities found errant may be subjected to fines of up to S$1,000,000.