URGENCY FOR A CALL TO STOP  ONLINE TARGETTED HATE SPEECH IN SINGAPORE 

A call for stronger regulation and accountability in Singapore’s online public spaces

Racial hatred, targeted harassment and hostility towards particular communities should not be allowed to gain reach simply because they occur online.

A racially abusive comment can be posted within seconds. Before it is reported and removed, it may already have been read by thousands, attracted further hostile comments and contributed to racial tension.

Removing it afterwards does not undo that exposure.

Singapore’s approach to online racial harm must therefore go beyond removing content after it has spread. There must also be stronger responsibility for preventing serious racial abuse from being amplified, for the spaces that repeatedly enable it, and for those who repeatedly engage in it.

We call on the Singapore Government and relevant regulators to act in four areas.

1. Set the standard for Government-operated social media spaces

Government agencies and public institutions operating social media pages should be required to adequately moderate the public discussions they choose to host.

Where adequate moderation cannot be provided, comments should be restricted or disabled.

Where public feedback or discussion is required, this can take place through properly moderated channels or forums.

Opening a public comment section should come with responsibility for managing it.

2. Act before serious racial abuse is amplified

The current post → report → review → remove model is reactive.

By the time seriously racist, threatening or targeted content is removed, the exposure may already have occurred.

For high-reach public pages and discussions where racial hostility is a foreseeable risk, stronger preventive safeguards should be required.

These could include automated screening, holding potentially serious racial abuse or threats for review before publication, and enhanced moderation for higher-risk discussions.

This is not about screening every opinion or preventing legitimate disagreement.

It is about intervening earlier where serious racial harm is reasonably identifiable.

3. Create accountability for pages that repeatedly enable racial targeting

The problem is not always an individual comment.

Some pages and accounts repeatedly target particular racial, ethnic or nationality groups, provoke hostility, encourage abusive trolling or become spaces for sustained harassment.

There should be a clear mechanism for the public to report a page or account and its overall pattern of conduct, rather than having to report individual posts and comments repeatedly.

Reports should trigger proper review where there is credible evidence of a repeated pattern.

Where serious or repeated violations are established, proportionate action should be available — including restrictions, suspension and, where warranted, removal.

4. Hold serious and repeat offenders accountable

Removing individual comments without addressing repeated behaviour allows the cycle to continue.

Accounts responsible for serious or repeated racial abuse, threats or targeted racial harassment should face escalating consequences, including commenting restrictions, suspension and, for serious or persistent violations, removal.

Measures should also address deliberate attempts to bypass restrictions through replacement accounts.

Where conduct may breach Singapore law, there should be an effective pathway for investigation by the appropriate authorities.

What this petition is asking for

This is not a call to restrict legitimate criticism, disagreement or unpopular opinions.

It is a call for a stronger regulatory approach to racial hatred, serious racial abuse and targeted harassment online.

The distinction is important.

We call on the Singapore Government and relevant regulators to:

1. Require moderation or close the comments.
Set a clear standard for Government-operated social media pages: where public comments are enabled, adequate moderation must be provided. Where this cannot be done, comments should be restricted or disabled and public discussion directed to a moderated channel.

2. Introduce preventive moderation for serious racial abuse.
Require high-reach public pages to have systems capable of flagging potentially serious racial abuse, threats and targeted racial harassment for review before they are widely visible, particularly on posts where such risks are foreseeable.

3. Create a dedicated way to report an entire page or account.
Establish a reporting mechanism that allows the public to submit evidence of repeated racial targeting, harassment or deliberate provocation by a page or account — with defined criteria for when a regulatory review will be initiated.

4. Establish clear consequences when a pattern is proven.
Introduce an escalation framework for pages and accounts found to have repeatedly engaged in or facilitated serious racial abuse — from warnings and restrictions to suspension or removal, depending on severity and recurrence.

5. Address repeat offenders and replacement accounts.
Require platforms to take reasonable steps to prevent users removed for serious or repeated racial abuse from simply creating new accounts to continue the same behaviour.

6. Set clear response standards.
Establish defined timelines for acknowledging, reviewing and acting on reports involving serious racial hatred, threats or targeted racial harassment, with an appropriate pathway to the authorities where the conduct may breach Singapore law.