Speech by Minister for Law and Second Minister for Home Affairs Edwin Tong SC at SHECARES Open House
24 July 2026 Posted in Speeches
1. I am very delighted to join you today to celebrate a new chapter for SHECARES. It is lovely to see all of those involved in the online harms space, advocacy, legislation, as well as with the setting up of these lovely premises here, present today.
2. Let me begin by thanking SHECARES for this project.
3. It is easy to broad stroke everyone under one umbrella. But I thought if you would indulge me, I would like to be specific and highlight some names because they deserve a mention. First, I would like to acknowledge:
(i) SHE's Chairperson, Ms Stefanie Yuen Thio. I said earlier that you are really an immovable force – deeply convicted and personally invested, that really shows in the work that you do;
(ii) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ms How Kay Lii, thank you very much for taking the helm;
(iii) Board Members, I know you are present today;
(iv) Natalie, Hema and other members of the team; and
(v) the many volunteers.
4. I know your dedication and hard work often goes unseen, but we like you to know that it is not and never unappreciated.
5. I would like to also recognise the many partners who have supported SHECARES over the years, including:
(i) the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations (SCWO),
(ii) Pro Bono SG, present today,
(iii) partner platforms, as well as
(iv) educators and schools.
The work that you do makes a real difference and it also reflects Stefanie’s point earlier that this must be a whole-of-society, a whole-of-community effort.
6. Today marks an important milestone, not just for SHE, but for Singapore’s broader efforts to better protect and support survivors of online harms.
Need for stronger protection and support for survivors of online harms
7. The online space is getting broader, the internet is getting faster and there is more and more content. SHE’s latest online harms survey is yet another reminder of the need and the urgency of tackling online harms.
8. Nearly 4 in 10 (38%) Singaporeans have personally experienced online harms at some point. Many survivors, 36% of them, continue to suffer severe forms of impact, such as depression, fearing for their safety and sometimes, even suicidal ideation. This reflects the state of where we are today, but we are committed to making sure that this is a number that we will bring down continually, step by step, bit by bit. We will bring it down.
9. Another study released by SHE yesterday also points to broader trends that should give us some pause. Preliminary findings from SHE’s Gender Norms Perceptions Study reveal that young Singaporeans are increasingly divided in their views on traditional gender roles, with younger men more likely to accept spousal violence in a marriage. We must take the view that violence of all sorts, whether it is within a marriage or otherwise, should be rejected in our society. We must work towards that aspiration.
10. But at the same time, these findings remind us that harms do not arise in a vacuum. They are often rooted in values and beliefs that can become sadly normalised if left unaddressed, and may find expression in the form of harassment or other harmful conduct, and this can happen both online as well as offline. We are not, and we must not be, a society that condones violence, whether against women or against men.
11. Strengthening online safety therefore is not just about regulating what happens online. It requires challenging and breaking down harmful gender beliefs and stereotypes, whilst at the same time, reinforcing norms of respectful as well as responsible engagement with one another. SHE has been doing important work on this front, and we are very grateful for all the work that you do.
12. Even as we, as a society, continue these broader efforts to reshape norms, it is important to also ensure that people have access to protections and to avenues of recourse, as well as resources, when online harms do occur and they become victims.
13. It was against this backdrop that Parliament passed the Online Safety (Relief and Accountability) Act, or OSRAA as I shall call it. It came into operation a month ago, as you have heard.
14. Francis Ng, the Commissioner of Online Safety, is here and he tells me that he has had a very busy start with about 200 cases already, which reflects what we had thought, as we did the studies and research into why we needed to pass this piece of legislation. That online harms were a growing concern. The work that Francis and his team are doing underscores that.
15. OSRAA is the culmination of close to five years of study, engagement as well as rigorous deliberation. Because we were moving into a new space, something that perhaps just five years ago, did not need to be dealt with in the same way. But we saw the trends, we decided to study them and we decided to move. How can we better protect and support survivors of online harms? That was a key question, informed by the views of many stakeholders such as SHE and other industry partners.
16. In developing OSRAA, we sought to address the longstanding challenges faced by survivors seeking relief from online harms. The truth is, the law is one thing, and the relief is another. Survivors wanted the harm to just stop, which was a very simple request, but they found the existing avenues of relief difficult, time-consuming or costly to navigate. Survivors who approached platforms for help were often not assured of a timely response, or perhaps of any response at all. Many were not inclined to go through court proceedings to seek relief. They also shared that they felt powerless when the perpetrators online displayed images and information about them, but remained anonymous.
17. We thus designed OSRAA around a very simple objective: how do we give survivors more accessible and effective pathways to speedy and efficient recourse, to seek relief that is meaningful and long-lasting.
18. To achieve this, a key feature of OSRAA is the establishment of the Office of the Commissioner of Online Safety, supported by the Online Safety Commission, or the OSC. The OSC provides survivors with an easily accessible avenue to seek timely relief for online harms, without having to go to Court. That is a key feature of the framework. If you require parties to go to Court and make their case, sometimes it can be public, it will be a big dissuasion factor. Victims may report harms to the OSC, and if harm is found to have occurred in this regard, the Commissioner plays a part in deciding, not just from the complainant’s perspective, but also understanding the framework and the allegations against the perpetrator, and forms a view. The Commissioner may direct action to stop the harm, such as requiring harmful content to be taken down or the perpetrator’s account to be restricted. It is meant to be fast, simple and also targeted at stopping the harm before it escalates.
19. We have also introduced a framework that provides for statutory torts in a clear, enforceable framework, with standards of acceptable and unacceptable conduct for communicators, administrators and platforms alike. Where the duties are breached, survivors have a clear legal basis to seek remedies such as damages through the Courts. To further our intent of ensuring that survivors receive timely assistance, we have also prescribed response times for specified platforms if they are notified of online harms. These have been calibrated according to the severity of harms involved. The prescribed response times, however, represent a baseline standard, and we want to emphasise that we hope that the platforms will strive to respond as quickly as possible when the harms are brought to their attention, to minimise further harm caused to survivors.
20. OSRAA also addresses a longstanding source of frustration – online anonymity. In specified circumstances, survivors may apply to the Commissioner for the disclosure of identity information of anonymous perpetrators, to hold them accountable for their actions. But I believe that after some time, the fact that we have this framework will itself have an impact on regulating behaviour, and allow people to understand this is what might happen if they post something, even if they post it anonymously.
21. Taken together, these measures seek to enhance protections for survivors, while at the same time, strengthen norms and accountability across the wider online ecosystem. Not just with the OSC or with the legal framework, but what our society wants to see as respectful and responsible online behaviour over time.
22. We are already beginning to see the impact of these measures. Since commencing operations on 29 June 2026, the OSC has helped survivors, including children, obtain timely relief by preventing the harmful content from spreading further. Let me just briefly share some cases so you have an idea of the kinds of cases that come before the OSC.
23. Photographs of children, as well as contact information such as their phone numbers, had been posted online for the world to see. This was the reality for two children whose families then turned to the OSC for assistance. The OSC worked quickly with the platform to remove these posts and suspend the offending accounts. Their parents later expressed relief and appreciation for the OSC’s timely action.
24. In another case, a survivor discovered that an intimate recording had been uploaded to a pornographic website without consent. The OSC assisted the survivor by issuing a takedown direction quickly to the website, which then complied with the direction and removed the video. These are just two examples to give you a sense, there are many more. These may sound like something we read about quite regularly online, but I can tell you, to the victims of these two examples, they mean the world. The efforts that we have put in to get us where we are today is highly commendable.
25. The Commissioner of Online Safety, Mr Francis Ng, is here with us today, and these cases are testament to the effectiveness of the OSC.
26. But with that said, let me just underscore that laws and regulations alone cannot be enough. We cannot stop there.
27. For OSRAA and the OSC to make a difference, survivors must know that help exists. They must know that it exists, they must be aware. They must understand how to get help, and they must feel confident enough to step forward to seek help. Sometimes, even a step forward to seek help is a big one.
28. Yet, we know from the experience of SHECARES and other frontliners that it is often easier said than done. SHE’s latest research indicates that the level of awareness of avenues of support generally, is low among Singaporeans1. For some, they may have simply lost hope that anything can be done, or perhaps so demoralised that every time they approach a platform, they get either no response, or a response that gives you cold comfort.
29. More crucially, when someone experiences online harm, their first question is rarely, “How do I report to the platform?” or “How do I seek relief from the OSC?” That is not going to be their first question. It is simply like Stefanie articulated earlier, “What do I do?”, “Where do I click?”, “Who do I see?”, “How do I stop this?” or “How do I stop my family, my employers from seeing this?” They are overwhelmed, distressed, anxious, uncertain about what to do, and who will help them along.
30. This is where organisations such as SHECARES really play a vital role in bridging that gap between the support that is available and the survivors who need it most, at their most vulnerable time, perhaps in their lives.
The importance of SHECARES and partner organisations
31. We often speak of online harm in terms of laws and regulations, but really, at the heart of every case is a person who is hurting or in distress.
32. Over the past three years, the dedicated team at SHECARES has become a trusted source of support for many such persons, giving them what they need most at that moment – someone who listens, who empathises, who believes in them and helps them to take that first step forward. This involves helping survivors report harm to platforms, linking them to legal assistance or providing counselling and emotional support. With SHECARES’s support, survivors have regained confidence and hope to embark on their journey of recovery, which they would often struggle to walk alone.
33. Beyond supporting individual survivors, SHECARES has also actively contributed to public education, research and advocacy for online safety.
34. None of this would be possible without the dedication of the SHECARES team and its many partners. At this juncture, let me just warmly thank all of you for the care, the compassion and commitment that you have shown to survivors - bit by bit, one by one, victim by victim. We are slowly reshaping the social compact that we want to see in Singapore for the online space.
35. Let me also take a moment to thank the lawyers from Pro Bono SG, who have been generously contributing their time, their talents and treasures, through SHECARES’ free legal clinics. By helping survivors understand their legal rights and the options available to them, they make justice more accessible to those who face difficulties navigating the legal system.
36. Together with SHECARES, they help to ensure that survivors are not left to navigate frameworks, meant to support them, on their own.
Conclusion
37. Finally, as I conclude, let me just underscore the point that addressing online harms requires a collective effort. Stefanie said that earlier, and I cannot agree more. Laws such as OSRAA, institutions like the OSC, we are proud of them. We are one of the first movers in the world, we have set it up early, and we believe that this has made and will continue to make a difference. But they are only part of the solution. It is organisations such as SHECARES and all of you here today, our many stakeholders and partners, who complete the ecosystem of support that is so invaluable.
38. You think of this space as a jar that you need to fill up. Legislation, regulations, institutions, the OSC, and so on, they are the big pieces. They can never fill the jar completely. The little bits will be the sand, the gravel, the pebbles, the smaller pieces that fill up the jar, and that will make the jar full. That is the work that each of you do. Each of you, as volunteers, as partners, as sponsors, as donors, each of you fill that space, and that is really invaluable work.
39. As I conclude, let me once again congratulate SHECARES on this very important milestone.
40. The work that you do really changes lives. Each survivor you support sends a simple but powerful message to others facing similar harm: you need not do this alone. You have the framework and the support of society.
41. Thank you very much to all of you for all that you do, and I wish SHECARES every success in the years ahead.
42. Thank you.
1. Awareness levels of avenues for support ranges from 37% to 52%, depending on the type of support (legal or non-legal) and the demographic of the survivor.↩
Last updated on 24 July 2026