Victims of online violence may soon be able to demand greater accountability from their attackers under a joint proposal presented on Friday (22 November) by the Ministry of Justice (MinLaw) and the Ministry of Digital Development and Technology. information (MDDI).

The proposal – which includes a complaints mechanism, agency powers to obtain user information, as well as statutory offenses (a type of tort) – aims to give victims of online harm more ways to request help and compensation.

Online harm includes online harassment, deepfakes, hate speech, and misrepresentations, among other forms of abuse.

Should the proposal be approved, a new agency will be created to receive complaints from victims of such harm or their representatives.

The agency would then be able to issue instructions to authors, platform administrators and online service providers and order them to stop.

In cases of false or reputational statements, the agency may also grant the complainant a right to respond to those statements.

No more anonymous

The agency may also disclose the information of people responsible for online harm to victims who have filed complaints, subject to certain requirements.

“We believe that improving accountability will deter perpetrators of such acts and also help improve overall user safety,” the ministries said.

Finally, the proposed legal offenses for online harm would give victims more legal certainty if they choose to take legal action to court.

Victims may also consider filing complaints against perpetrators (communicators), platform administrators and online service providers. If these parties fail to fulfill their duty under the statutory tort, they would be liable for the loss and damage suffered by the victim, up to a certain limit.

MinLaw and MDDI jointly launched a public consultation today to gather feedback on this bill and its measures to improve online safety.

They aim to table relevant legislation for these measures in Parliament next year.

The public consultation will last one month, until December 22, 2024. Members of the public are invited to submit their opinions via https://go.gov.sg/onlineharmsconsult.

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