PUBLISHED ONApril 23, 2026 8:00 AMBYLim KeweiSingapore has blocked six websites masquerading as local mainstream news sources, but which are actually operated by foreign actors.
The inauthentic sites were identified by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which assessed that they could be used to launch hostile information campaigns.
In such campaigns, foreign attackers use sophisticated online tools and tactics in a coordinated manner to advance a country's interests, such as by influencing domestic political discourse.
In a joint statement on Thursday (April 23), MHA and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) said the websites use spoofing or Singapore-associated terms in their domain name, and carry local news.
"They are associated with other websites and networks which had previously been flagged by various international analysts as being inauthentic and carrying out mis- and dis-information activities," the authorities added.
Directions to Internet Access Service Providers (IASPs) to disable access to the six sites for Singapore users were issued by IMDA after it assessed MHA's findings.
The blocked sites are:
The first five are associated with a network of inauthentic news sites flagged by Google's Threat Analysis Group and cybersecurity firm Mandiant, noted MHA and IMDA.
All five sites have the same registration date of March 28, 2021, in Cayman Islands, according to domain lookup tool Whois.
The authorities said the sites were each revamped within the same period in June 2025, and given similar features such as a news ticker, search bar and highlights of trending stories to more closely resemble authentic news sites.
During the 2025 General Election, four of them — singaporeheadline.com and singaporeweek.com, singapore24hour.com and nanyangweekly.com — carried election-related news over the campaign period.
"Notably, most of these websites were largely inactive prior to the issuance of the Writ of Election, and only became active after the Writ was issued," added the authorities.
The content pieces on the five inauthentic sites were also attributed to themselves, despite having been taken from local mainstream media outlets and foreign media outlets.
It could mislead readers into believing they are legitimate Singapore-related news sites, and that their content is reflective of official positions or local sentiments.
Meanwhile, the sixth inauthentic site, sgtimes.com, also attempts to pass itself off as a Singapore mainstream news site.
MHA and IMDA pointed out an article dated July 25, 2025, where the site described itself as one of Singapore's mainstream media sites with "high monthly visits".
"It is a common tactic for malicious foreign actors to build seemingly credible websites to attract a local following, and subsequently use these inauthentic websites to mount hostile information campaigns," the authorities said.
"We have observed overseas examples where such foreign actors have created and used inauthentic news websites to propagate false narratives and sway the target population's sentiments to advance their own interests," they added.
The authorities cited serious outcomes of hostile information campaigns: inciting social tension, exploiting societal fault lines, manipulating elections and electoral outcomes, as well as undermining confidence and trust in public institutions.
"It is in the public interest to issue directions under the Broadcasting Act to disable access to these six inauthentic websites for users in Singapore."
In October 2024, 10 inauthentic sites set up by foreign actors were blocked under the same Act.
Singaporeans are urged to remain vigilant when accessing online content and be alert to such inauthentic sites.
[[nid:694191]]
lim.kewei@asiaone.com