Online Safety Commission received over 500 reports on online harm in first two months
The youngest victim was a seven-year-old who was subject to doxxing.
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SINGAPORE: The new Online Safety Commission (OSC) has received more than 500 reports of online harms since it started operations on Jun 29, Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo said on Tuesday (Sep 22).
Between Jun 29 and Aug 31, doxxing was the most prevalent, comprising 44 per cent of online harms reported based on eligible reports received, the commission said.
Online harassment followed, making up 38 per cent of online harms reported. About 8 per cent of online harms involved intimate image abuse, 7 per cent involved online stalking, and 3 per cent involved image-based child abuse where the victims were under the age of 16.
The commission said it resolved more than 90 per cent of eligible reports received. It did not say how many of the over 500 reports received were considered eligible.
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An eligible report is made by an eligible victim or on their behalf, and discloses online harmful activity within the scope of the Online Safety (Relief and Accountability) Act.
A case is considered resolved when the harmful content is removed, an OSC spokesperson said.
This is either through flags to online platforms, directions, communications with those responsible for the harmful content or by getting a perpetrator's account restricted.
Cases where platforms, websites or communicators did not respond to the commissioner’s directions by the stated deadline are considered unresolved and will constitute a non-compliance case that the OSC will investigate, the OSC spokesperson added.
“However, this does not mean that the victim is left hanging. OSC will consider other options in our toolkit, such as to issue an access blocking order to block a website that failed to comply with a direction issued by the commissioner.”
The commission was set up under the Online Safety (Relief and Accountability) Act 2025 (OSRAA), which was passed in parliament in November last year, allowing victims to seek quicker recourse.
Victims can file reports if platforms fail to remove harmful content within 24 hours. The Commissioner of Online Safety can then issue directions to take down content, restrict perpetrators’ online accounts or allow victims to post replies.
The commission did not share a breakdown of how long it took to resolve cases.
Speaking on a gov.sg podcast Let’s Table It, which was posted on Tuesday, Mrs Teo said it was helpful to set the OSC in law to ensure that the commission has credibility and speaks with a voice of authority.
"That's why we passed the law, so they can refer back to the law and say that the law says that there are these categories of harms. This is how these categories of harms are defined," she said.
Commissioner of Online Safety Francis Ng likened online harms to something "dark and nasty" that "gets the keys to your head" and moves in "rent-free".
Before the commission was formed, victims had no direct means of being able to take down harmful content online, he said.
"I think the OSC decisively changed that game by creating a statutory reporting mechanism. This allows us to then reach out to the platforms, to the communicators, to get the harm taken off the internet," he added.
Ahead of the podcast, Mrs Teo also told reporters that the initial progress suggests that there is a need to provide better support to victims of online harms.
“Very often when we speak to these victims, their immediate need is clear and straightforward. They really want the harmful content to be removed as soon as possible,” she said.
“The platforms remain the first port of call. They have a responsibility to act on reports of harmful content. But when the victims need more support, today they have the Online Safety Commission to turn to.”
YOUNG VICTIMS
About 17 per cent – or nearly one in five – of eligible reports involved a victim under 18 years old, the commission said. The youngest victim was a seven-year-old in a case of doxxing.
For young victims, online harassment made up more than half of reported cases, at 51 per cent.
About 31 per cent of eligible cases reported involved doxxing, 11 per cent involved image-based child abuse, 3.5 per cent involved online stalking and 3.5 per cent involved intimate image abuse.
The commission said men and women were impacted at nearly equal rates. The oldest victim was a 68-year-old who was subjected to online harassment.
In one case, a victim was subjected to sustained online sexual harassment from 2022.
The harasser sent the victim unsolicited explicit content and created AI-generated deepfake nude images and videos of her. In total, over 1,000 posts were posted across multiple platforms.
The commission issued a direction and the harmful content was successfully removed.
In another case, a victim was subjected to sustained online harassment and stalking over a prolonged period,
His stalker had created multiple social media accounts targeting him and approached his friends directly.
The stalker also impersonated the victim and people in his network to gather information. The harmful conduct extended to death threats and involved a parallel police investigation.
The commission flagged the social media accounts, which were successfully removed for violating community guidelines, and the victim was referred to the support centre SHECARES for counselling and guidance.
In a case of doxxing, a victim was targeted in a forum thread soliciting her details and negative information about her.
The post contained negative allegations about her character and reputation, with multiple users leaving negative comments about her. One user identified the victim and her partner by name.
In response, the commission issued an Access Disabling Direction to the forum to disable the original post and the identified comment.
The commission currently helps victims of five types of online harm: online harassment (including sexual harassment), doxxing, online stalking, intimate image abuse and image-based child abuse.
Its scope will gradually expand to cover all 13 categories of online harms under the law, including online impersonation, inauthentic material abuse and statements that harm a person's reputation.
In response to CNA’s queries on what will happen in cases where the reported online harm does not fall within the five categories, the OSC spokesperson said it operates on a “no wrong door” policy.
“We will refer the cases to other agencies and third-party partners that we work with, who may be able to help victims find relief.”
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