PUBLISHED ONNovember 05, 2025 9:52 AMBYKoh Xing YingDecisive steps will be taken to give victims of online harms an avenue of "timely, effective, and accessible" redress, said Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo in Parliament on Wednesday (Nov 5).
Teo was speaking during the debate on the Online Safety (Relief and Accountability), or OSRA Bill, which seeks to tackle online harms.
"Two in five online harms survivors experience at least one severe form of impact. These include serious emotional mental or physical consequences like depression or self-harm," said Teo.
Teo added that platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram — where people often go for entertainment — are also spaces where such online harms can occur.
She emphasised that the proposed legislation will give these victims a legal basis to seek redress, and provide them with means to identify who harmed them.
Minister Teo stated that the OSRA will cover three main areas.
"First, OSRA will establish the Office of the Commissioner of Online Safety. An agency, the Online Safety Commission (OSC), will be set up to support the Office of Commissioner," said Teo.
She explained that the OSC will be empowered to issue directions to communicators of harmful content, administrators of groups or pages, and platforms.
Teo added that these directions require the recipients to act quickly on the harmful content.
"Second, OSRA will introduce statutory torts. It provides a legal basis for the victim, for the OSC to take action," said Teo.
"Most importantly, it allows victims to initiate legal proceedings against those responsible for causing or continuing the harm."
Teo noted that studies have shown that Singaporeans view online safety as a shared responsibility among tech companies, individuals, the government, parents, and schools.
She added that the proposed statutory rights aim to clarify the duties shared by users, group administrators, and platforms.
Thirdly, Teo explained that OSRA will give victims a way to identify those responsible for causing harm.
"Victims are at the very heart of the OSC's mission, but the OSC's operational model and its oversight process are designed to be reasonable and fair to all," said Teo.
Teo pointed out that just as harmful behavior is not tolerated in the physical world, it should not be allowed to become normalised online.
"Through OSRA, we hope to avoid such an eventuality. In its place, we want to lay the foundations for our citizens' online interactions by fostering trust in online spaces."
Minister Teo added that if the Bill is passed, Singapore will be among the few countries in the world to establish an agency dedicated to supporting victims of online harms.
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xingying.koh@asiaone.com