Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) has introduced the ‘Code of Practice for Online Safety’ to address the risk of harmful social media content for Singaporeans, with an emphasis on child protection. This pioneering move includes directives for platforms to refrain from serving advertisements to accounts owned by minors.
The code encompasses a wide range of harmful content categories including sexual and violent content, cyberbullying, suicide and self-harm, content that endangers public health, and content that facilitates vice and organized crime.
Under the new safety code, online platforms are instructed to implement age-appropriate policies for children’s accounts. This includes creating child-friendly community guidelines, engaging in content moderation, and providing easily understandable online safety information for children.
Also Read: Google’s Alliance with IMDA: Steering Singapore Businesses Toward a Privacy-First Future
Furthermore, the code empowers local users with tools to take charge of their own safety. Such tools include features to hide harmful content and unwanted interactions, and control location sharing and visibility of their accounts to other users.
In combating the threat of harmful online content, IMDA emphasizes the need for a holistic society-wide effort. “The Singapore Government has strengthened our regulatory framework and will continue its efforts in ensuring that regulatory and public education measures can address the growing range of harmful online content and protect Singapore users against online harms. IMDA will continue to work closely with SMSs to enhance Singapore’s Online Safety,” IMDA announced.
Meta Description: “Singapore’s IMDA issues the ‘Code of Practice for Online Safety’, aimed at mitigating the risk of harmful social media content, particularly protecting children from online harm.
News Source: This article is based on a report by Marketech APAC.
