IMDA Report: Social Media Safety Measures Improving, But More Needed For Child Protection

Online Safety Assessment Report finds Social Media Services have safety measures in place for Singapore users but more needs to be done
– Report helps Singapore users make informed decisions on which social media services are able to provide a safe environment for themselves and their children.

Online Safety Assessment Report IMDA Photo credit: Pixabay

The inaugural Online Safety Assessment Report on Designated Social Media Services (DSMSs)¹ (the “Report”) is the latest in the Government’s efforts to enhance online safety for Singapore users. The Report, released by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) today, assesses the comprehensiveness and effectiveness of the online safety measures implemented by DSMSs to mitigate risks from harmful content, and highlights areas for improvement. The Report allows users, including parents, to make informed decisions about the risks and available safety measures on the various DSMSs for themselves and their children.

The Code of Practice for Online Safety – Social Media Services (the “Code”) published in July 2023 requires DSMSs to put in place system-level measures to minimise users’ access to harmful content, empower users with effective and easy-to-use mechanisms to report harmful content, and be transparent and accountable to users by submitting annual online safety reports for publishing on IMDA’s website.

Keeping DSMSs accountable to users

DSMSs bear significant responsibility for the safety of their users given their reach and impact. The Code has ensured that DSMSs have baseline measures in place to keep users safe and are accountable. This is the first year that the DSMSs have submitted their annual online safety reports. IMDA recognises the efforts by the DSMSs to enhance their online safety levels.

IMDA’s report assessed whether the DSMSs’ measures were comprehensive and effective in achieving the Code’s outcomes. Each DSMS received an overall rating and individual ratings which reflect the extent to which DSMSs achieved this. Overall, the ratings show that DSMSs performed better in User safety measures for all users, and Accountability, while some DSMSs did not do as well in User safety measures for children, and User reporting and resolution.

Overview of DSMSs’ Online Safety Ratings

Overview of DSMS Online Safety Ratings

User safety measures

The Report found that DSMSs have largely put in place safety measures for all users, including having community guidelines, content moderation, tools for users to manage their own safety, and Singapore-based safety resources. However, X needs to improve the effectiveness of its efforts in proactively detecting and removing child sexual exploitation and abuse material (CSEM).

DSMSs should do more to improve the effectiveness of their measures in protecting children from harmful and age-inappropriate content, including the enforcement of their community guidelines for children. There were instances where children’s accounts on Facebook and YouTube could access age-inappropriate content that should have been restricted under their own community guidelines. Children’s accounts on X could easily access explicit adult sexual content. HardwareZone needs to improve its measures to restrict children from accessing its service or put in place comprehensive safety measures for children.

User reporting and resolution

DSMSs should improve the effectiveness and timeliness of their response to user reports. The Report noted that all the DSMSs, except HardwareZone, took action on only approximately 50% or less of the content that violated their own community guidelines. This means that a significant proportion of legitimate user reports were not acted on. Most DSMSs also took an average of five days or more to take action on these user reports.

Taking steps to improve on these areas

DSMSs need to take greater responsibility to protect children. Today, the Code already requires DSMSs to ensure that children receive age-appropriate content and experiences. It allows DSMSs to decide how best to achieve this outcome without requiring implementation of age assurance measures. However, age assurance technology has improved considerably in recent years. IMDA has recently made it a requirement for Designated App Distribution Services to implement age assurance measures to ensure young users do not download apps that are inappropriate for their age. We are studying how Social Media Services should use age assurance technology to better protect children and youth online.

IMDA Online Safety Pixabay Photo credit: Pixabay

DSMSs will need to provide IMDA with updates on the steps taken to improve on these areas in their next annual online safety report. At the same time, the Government will continue to enhance public education efforts to equip Singaporeans with the knowledge and skills to go online safely, securely and safeguard themselves against online harms and threats. We will also further strengthen collaboration with stakeholders across the 3P sectors (People, Private and Public) to enhance online safety for users in Singapore.

IMDA’s Online Safety Assessment Report and the DSMSs’ annual online safety reports are published in full on IMDA’s website for public reference.

¹ Six social media services with significant reach or impact have been designated under the Code of Practice for Online Safety which came into effect on 18 July 2023. These platforms are Facebook, HardwareZone, Instagram, TikTok, X (formerly known as Twitter) and YouTube. More details can be found on IMDA’s website.

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