Online Safety Commission acts against TikTok post linking woman to Faishal's resignation
The Online Safety Commission received a report on the matter and determined that online harmful activity had taken place.
This audio is generated by an AI tool.
SINGAPORE: The Online Safety Commission (OSC) has taken action against a TikTok post that linked a woman to the circumstances surrounding Associate Professor Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim's resignation from politics, after determining that online harmful activity had taken place.
The post was no longer available as of Tuesday evening (Jul 28), the commission said in response to CNA queries on Wednesday.
The woman at the centre of the online claims said in an Instagram post earlier this week that she had been wrongly identified and linked to the case. Assoc Prof Faishal, who had been acting minister-in-charge of Muslim affairs and senior minister of state for home affairs, resigned on Jul 20 over his online interactions with a woman which were deemed to have fallen short of standards required of a political office holder.
The OSC, a new government agency, said on Wednesday that it had received a report on the matter a day earlier, which referenced content which included the TikTok post.
"Following assessment of the report and determination that online harmful activity had taken place, the OSC took action in relation to the post, which was no longer available as of yesterday evening," the commission said.
"The OSC is currently looking into other content identified in the report and will take the appropriate action where necessary."
The nature of the additional content under review was not disclosed.
The OSC, which began operations on Jun 29, provides victims of online harms in Singapore a dedicated avenue to seek help.
It responds to reports submitted by victims and assesses the information and evidence provided. Where appropriate, it can take action to have harmful content removed expeditiously.
The commission deals with five types of online harm - online harassment (including sexual harassment), doxxing, online stalking, intimate image abuse and image-based child abuse. Its scope will be expanded over time to cover all 13 categories under the law, including online impersonation, inauthentic material and statements that harm a person’s reputation.
Minister for Law Edwin Tong said on Jul 24 that about 200 cases of online harm had been reported to the commission since it began operations.
CNA has contacted TikTok for more information on the post identified and its removal.
