Singaporeans encountering harmful online content, says survey

Singapore, Oct 10 (PTI) More than four in five Singapore residents reported encountering harmful online content such as scams, violence and cyberbullying in the past year, according to findings from two surveys conducted by the Ministry of Digital Development and Information.

Results from the Perceptions of Digitalisation Survey and Smart Nation Policy Perception Survey, released on Friday, revealed that content supporting illegal activity, such as scams, was the most frequently encountered harmful content.

This was followed by sexual content, violent content, cyberbullying and content causing racial or religious tension, Channel News Asia reported.

Singapore is a multi-ethnic city-state sitting in the midst of nearly 700 million people in South East Asia focused on business and commerce but facing sentimental issues relating to religion, diplomatic observers said.

Frequently encountered harmful online content referred to content that participants came across at least a few times a month, some of which are religious tones and tunes, according to the observers.

Subjects related to Israel and Gaza war, as well as ISIS online indoctrination, are some of the more serious issues faced by the Southeast Asian region and more so in the prosperous city-state that is dependent on global trade progress but is always cautious of economic disparity within the region.

Fifty-seven per cent of respondents reported encountering harmful content on Facebook, while 46 per cent said they came across such content on YouTube.

Forty-one per cent of participants also indicated that they encountered harmful content on Instagram.

About 36 per cent came across such content on TikTok, 15 per cent on X and 13 per cent on Reddit.

For messaging apps, 38 per cent said they encountered harmful content on WhatsApp, while 22 per cent indicated encountering it on Telegram.

“While this may be a result of the relative reach of each platform, the prevalence across all platforms is cause for concern,” the ministry said.

The Perceptions of Digitalisation Survey was conducted from November 2024 to February 2025, while the Smart Nation Policy Perception Survey was carried out from March to May this year.

Each survey involved 2,008 Singaporeans and permanent residents aged 15 and above.

The samples for both surveys were representative of the resident population by gender, age and race.

In a LinkedIn post on Friday, Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo said data-driven insights are key to the ministry’s work.

"As technology evolves rapidly and new online harms emerge, my colleagues and I must not only understand these technologies - their uses, limitations and risks - but also stay attuned to ground sentiments," she said.

"They are essential to designing sound and effective regulations." The ministry noted that the government has taken several legislative steps to protect Singaporeans from online harms. PTI GS ZH ZH