...Meaning of in the public interest For the purposes of this Act and without limiting the generality of the expression, it is in the public interest to do anything if the doing of that thing is necessary or expedient — in the interest of the security of Singapore or any part of Singapore; to protect public health or public finances, or to secure public safety or public tranquillity; in the interest of friendly relations of Singapore with other countries; to prevent any influence of the outcome of an election to the office of President, a general election of Members of Parliament, a by-election of a Member of Parliament, or a referendum; to prevent incitement of feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different groups of persons; or to prevent a diminution of public confidence in the performance of any duty or function of, or in the exercise of any power by, the Government, an Organ of State, a statutory board, or a part of the Government, an Organ of State or a statutory board. ...
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...Conditions for issue of Part 3 Directions Any Minister may instruct the Competent Authority to issue a Part 3 Direction if all of the following conditions are satisfied: a false statement of fact (called in this Part the subject statement) has been or is being communicated in Singapore; the Minister is of the opinion that it is in the public interest to issue the Direction. Any Minister may instruct the Competent Authority to issue a Part 3 Direction in relation to the subject statement even if it has been amended or has ceased to be communicated in Singapore. ...
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...Conditions for issue of Part 4 Directions Any Minister may instruct the Competent Authority to issue a Part 4 Direction if all of the following conditions are satisfied: material (called in this Part the subject material) that contains or consists of a false statement of fact (called in this Part the subject statement) has been or is being communicated in Singapore; the Minister is of the opinion that it is in the public interest to issue the Direction. Any Minister may instruct the Competent Authority to issue a Part 4 Direction in relation to the subject material even if it has been amended or has ceased to be communicated in Singapore. ...
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... general election of Members of Parliament, a by-election of a Member of Parliament, or a referendum; to influence, or to seek to influence, public opinion on a matter which in Singapore is a matter of public interest or public controversy; or to bring about, or to seek to bring about, changes of the law...
...Codes of practice The Competent Authority may issue one or more codes of practice applicable to one or both of the following: prescribed digital advertising intermediaries or prescribed types of digital advertising intermediaries; prescribed internet intermediaries or prescribed types of internet intermediaries, for the purpose of enhancing disclosure of the sponsor and other information concerning any paid content that is directed towards a political end, that is communicated in Singapore. The Competent Authority may issue one or more codes of practice applicable to prescribed internet intermediaries or prescribed types of internet intermediaries, for one or more of the following purposes: to detect, control and safeguard against coordinated inauthentic behaviour and any other misuse of online accounts; to give prominence to credible sources of information; to not give prominence to a declared online location and an online location that is or that contains — a statement of fact that is the subject of a Part 3 Direction; or any material that is the subject of a Part 4 Direction. Without limiting subsections (1) and (2), a code of practice may — require a digital advertising intermediary or an internet intermediary to carry out specified due diligence measures before entering into an agreement to communicate in Singapore any paid content that is directed towards a political end; require a digital advertising intermediary or an internet intermediary to disclose to the public, or a specified description of persons, any paid content communicated in Singapore that is directed towards a political end, and to maintain and make available to the public, or a specified description of persons, a record of all such paid content; require an internet intermediary to carry out specified due diligence measures for the detection of coordinated inauthentic behaviour involving online accounts created with it and to safeguard against any misuse of such online accounts; require an internet intermediary to carry out specified due diligence measures to safeguard against any misrepresentation of the identity of an end-user and to safeguard against any misuse of bots; require an internet intermediary to report to the Competent Authority any knowledge or suspicion of any coordinated inauthentic behaviour; require a digital advertising intermediary or an internet intermediary to report to the Competent Authority any knowledge or suspicion of any misuse of services provided by the digital advertising intermediary or internet intermediary to facilitate the communication of paid content in Singapore; require a digital advertising intermediary or an internet intermediary... |
...Account Restriction Direction If the conditions in subsection (2) are satisfied, any Minister may instruct the Competent Authority to issue a direction to a prescribed internet intermediary requiring it to do one or both of the following: disallow its services from being used to communicate any statement in Singapore through one or more specified online accounts; disallow any person from using one or more specified online accounts to interact with any end-user of its internet intermediary service in Singapore. The conditions mentioned in subsection (1) are — the specified online account or accounts (called in this Part the specified online account) is or are created with the prescribed internet intermediary; either — a false statement of fact (called in this Part the subject statement) has been communicated in Singapore using the specified online account; or coordinated inauthentic behaviour (called in this Part the subject behaviour) has been carried out using the specified online account; the Minister in subsection (1) has determined that the specified online account is an inauthentic online account or is controlled by a bot; and the Minister in subsection (1) is of the opinion that it is in the public interest to issue the Account Restriction Direction. An Account Restriction Direction may specify that it has effect — indefinitely; or for a specified period not exceeding 3 months. In determining whether an online account is an inauthentic online account or is controlled by a bot, the Minister must have regard to the following factors: whether any information used in creating the online account relates to a country or territory that is not the country or territory that the holder of the account is purportedly from; whether there is a pattern of suspicious activity carried out using the online account; the date on which the online account was created; any other factor that the Minister considers relevant. An Account Restriction Direction must identify in sufficient detail the subject statement or the subject behaviour, as the case may be. An Account Restriction Direction may require the prescribed internet intermediary to which it is issued to do an act in or outside Singapore. A prescribed internet intermediary is responsible for the costs of complying with an Account Restriction Direction issued to it. In this section, specified means specified in the Account Restriction Direction. ...
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Meaning of “in the public interest” |
4. For the purposes of this Act and without limiting the generality of the expression, it is in the public interest to do anything if the doing of that thing is necessary or expedient —
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