Singapore orders social media sites to block content targeting Indians – why?

In a significant development, the High Commission of Singapore in India on Saturday announced their government ordered social media sites to block content which targeted Indian community. The High Commission noted that the content likely originated from China. As per a statement by the Singapore Ministry of Home Affairs, under the Online Criminal Harms Act 2023, the Singapore Police Force has issued Disabling Directions to deal with content circulating on YouTube, Facebook and X, which target the Indian community and undermine Singapore's model of multiculturalism.The directions require the platforms to take all reasonable steps to disable access by Singapore users to these posts.

“Last month, narratives started circulating online in the Chinese information space that Singapore is displaying anxiety about our cultural identity and ethnic politics,” the statement said. Shortly afterwards, online content appeared with inflammatory narratives on Singapore’s cultural diversity and suggesting Singapore was being “overrun by Indians”.

The statement added that Singapore is firmly opposed to nativism and xenophobia. "Any attempt to divide one community from another here must be roundly rejected.

The statement said that the narratives propagated through such content was that: “Singapore’s multiracial policy is a façade meant to appeal to Western values; Singapore’s stability cannot be attributed to its multiracial policy, but to its majority Chinese demographics.”

"Ethnic Indian politicians in Singapore, whose numbers are growing, would act in favour of Indian immigrants," it said. "Singapore's culture is fundamentally Chinese and the government's approach of "decoupling" itself from China while ignoring the threat of a growing Indian community would lead to a negative outcome."

These attacks are doubly unacceptable as they are coming from a foreign source. Threats to our social cohesion and racial harmony, including from external actors, are taken seriously by the Government and will be dealt with resolutely. The statement ended with a call for Singaporeans to be discerning in the consumption and dissemination of information online and to reject all attempts to divide our society.

India and Singapore on Thursday held comprehensive discussions on key areas of defence cooperation, security collaboration and avenues to further strengthen the strategic relationship between the two countries.

The 16th Defence Policy Dialogue, co-chaired by Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh and Singapore’s Permanent Secretary (Defence) Joseph Leong, reaffirmed the strong bilateral defence partnership between the two countries.

The Ministry of Defence spokesperson said in a post on X, “Wide-ranging discussions were held on key areas of defence cooperation, security collaboration and avenues to further strengthen the strategic relationship between the two countries.

The minister visited the Digital Operations Technology Centre (DOTC) of the Singapore Armed Forces’ Digital and Intelligence Service, said the ministry. The visit offered significant insights into Singapore’s advanced digital and technical capabilities and explored opportunities for collaboration with the Indian Armed Forces in niche and emerging domains of warfare, the post on X said.