Online Safety Commission operational from 29 June 2026

30 July 2026

On 28 June 2026, the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (“MDDI”) announced that the Online Safety Commission (“OSC”) would commence operations on 29 June 2026, providing victims of online harms in Singapore a dedicated and easily accessible avenue to seek timely redress.

OSC is established to support the office of the Commissioner of Online Safety, which was created by the Online Safety (Relief and Accountability) Act 2025 (“OSRAA”). Specified provisions on the statutory torts under OSRAA also come into effect on 29 June 2026.

For more on the OSC, please refer to our article “Partial commencement of Online Safety (Relief and Accountability) Act 2025 and Online Safety Commission to begin operations on 29 June 2026”.

More support for five online harms in first phase of operations

In its first phase of operations, OSC supports victims affected by five of the most prevalent and severe online harms faced by Singapore citizens and residents: (i) online harassment (including online sexual harassment); (ii) doxxing; (iii) online stalking; (iv) intimate image abuse; and (v) image-based child abuse. The remaining eight categories of online harms under OSRAA will be progressively implemented.

Individuals who have experienced any of the five online harms may:

  • first report the harmful content to the platform for cases involving online harassment and online stalking. If the platform fails to respond promptly or provides an inadequate response within 24 hours, victims may then file a report with OSC; or
  • report directly to OSC through its website osc.gov.sg for more severe harms, i.e. cases involving intimate image abuse, image-based child abuse, and doxxing.

Reporting to OSC

Parents and guardians may file reports on behalf of victims who are under 18 years of age. A report may also be submitted by another individual on behalf of a victim, with the victim’s written authorisation. There is no fee required to make a report to OSC.

Actions taken by OSC

After OSC assesses the report, the Commissioner may issue directions to stop or limit the harm if there is reason to suspect that online harm has occurred. These directions may be issued to the person who posted the harmful content, the administrator of the online group or page where the harmful content appears, or the platform hosting the content. Non-compliance with a direction is a criminal offence.

Six online service providers are prescribed to have additional obligations under the OSRAA, reflecting a higher level of responsibility to ensure a safe online space for Singapore users. Annex B to the press release sets out the list of prescribed online service providers for the purposes of OSRAA.

Further review of OSC decisions

OSRAA provides for a two-stage review mechanism for all reports filed to OSC:

  • Eligible persons may apply to seek a reconsideration of the Commissioner’s decision no later than 14 days after the issuance of the initial OSC decision. Where an application for reconsideration has been made, the Commissioner may affirm, revoke, vary, or substitute the initial decision. There is no fee for applying for a reconsideration. Annex C to the press release sets out the definition of eligible persons.
  • Parties who remain dissatisfied with the Commissioner’s decision after reconsideration may appeal to an Online Safety Appeal Panel. The appeal panel acts independently of OSC and can affirm, revoke, vary, or substitute the Commissioner’s decision. Appeals should be made no later than 14 days after the Commissioner’s reconsidered decision has been issued. A S$200 application fee is payable upon submission of an appeal.

A six-member appeal panel has been appointed by the Minister for Digital Development and Information for a three-year term. More information on the panel is set out in Annex D to the press release.

Applications for end-user identity information

Victims who do not know who harmed them online may apply to OSC for help identifying the person responsible, if they are considering commencing, or intend to commence, civil proceedings against such person. If the application is successful, information disclosed must only be used for its stated purposes and disclosure will be subject to conditions. Applications must be made within 12 months from when the online harm occurred or when the victim first became aware of it, whichever is later.

New legal remedies under OSRAA

Victims of online harms also have additional rights under OSRAA to bring civil claims in court which are provided through new statutory torts. These statutory torts cover the five online harms during the first phase of operationalisation and set out the duties for different online actors.

Where these duties are breached, victims may bring civil claims in court against those responsible. These duties apply to three groups of online actors:

  • Communicators: A person must not communicate or publish harmful material or engage in harmful online conduct.
  • Administrators: Administrators include persons who administer online groups, pages, forums, or other online spaces. They must not set up or run these spaces in a way that facilitates online harm. They must also take reasonable steps to address such harm when properly notified.
  • Platforms: Platforms must take reasonable steps to address online harm when properly notified and do so within a reasonable time.

The duty of an administrator or platform to respond reasonably when notified of harm is triggered upon the victim sending an Online Harm Notice to them in the prescribed form and manner. Victims may access this form on the Ministry of Law’s Online Safety website onlinesafety.mlaw.gov.sg. The form may also be hosted on a platform’s online service as a webform.

Whether an administrator or platform has responded reasonably to such a notice will depend on the facts of each case. Prescribed platforms for purposes of the statutory torts must take steps to address the harm within specified time periods, unless they show to the court that it was not reasonable to do so within that time. Annex E to the press release sets out the list of platforms prescribed for purposes of the statutory torts.

Where losses may be difficult to prove, OSRAA provides for minimum damages for the most serious image-based harms. For intimate image abuse and image-based child abuse, the court will award at least S$5,000 for each image or recording if the claim is made out.

OSRAA’s court-based remedies complement existing remedies under the Protection from Harassment Act 2014 (“POHA”). Victims of online harassment, doxxing, or stalking may continue to seek remedies against communicators under POHA, including Protection Orders. OSRAA provides additional remedies for other specified online harms, such as intimate image abuse and image-based child abuse, and for victims who wish to hold administrators or platforms accountable for failing to act reasonably after receiving an Online Harm Notice.

Reference materials

The following materials are available on the MDDI website www.mddi.gov.sg: