SINGAPORE TO BLOCK 95 SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS UNDER FOREIGN INTERFERENCE ACT

SINGAPORE, July 19 (Bernama) -- Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has directed five social media platforms to block 95 online accounts linked to Chinese businessman and convicted fraudster Guo Wengui and his affiliated organisations, from being accessible to Singapore end-users. 

MHA said it issued the Account Restriction Directions (ARDs) under the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act 2021 (FICA) to X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok, after a network of 92 social media accounts published 120 posts containing videos on Singapore’s leadership transition.

The ministry said the posts between April 17 and May 10 were published in a coordinated manner and contained narratives which alleged that Singapore is in the pocket of a foreign actor, and that the foreign actor was behind the scenes in the selection of Singapore’s fourth generation leader.

“The Minister for Home Affairs is of the opinion that the conditions under section 21(1) of FICA are satisfied, and has authorised the issuance of ARDs to the five social media platforms.

“The ARDs will require the social media platforms to take all reasonable steps to terminate any functionality of their services that enables interactions between the specified accounts and end-users physically present in Singapore,” it said in a statement on Friday.

It is the first time such ARDs was issued under FICA since the law was passed in 2021, local media reports.

MHA investigations found that these 92 accounts are part of a network linked to Guo, his affiliated organisations, the New Federal State of China (NFSC) and the Himalaya Supervisory Organisation (HSO), while the remaining three belong to HSO’s Singapore chapter (Himalaya Singapore). 

The NFSC is a right-wing political and lobby group created by Guo and Steve Bannon.

“We had also noted that according to a study by Graphika in 2021, Guo is at the centre of a vast network of interrelated media entities and social media accounts that disseminate disinformation across multiple platforms,” MHA said.

The ministry said Guo’s coordinated actions and precedence of using Singapore to push its agenda have demonstrated its willingness and capability to spread false narratives that are detrimental to the republic’s interests, and the timing of the coordinated posts, which coincided with the period of Singapore’s political leadership transition, is indicative of deliberate planning and actions. 

“There are grounds, therefore, to believe that Guo’s network can and may potentially harness the 95 accounts to mount hostile information campaigns (HICs) which are targeted directly at Singapore. HICs can undermine sovereignty and social cohesion,” it said.

Reuters reported that Guo, an outspoken opponent of the Government of China, was convincted in the US court on July 16, on nine of the 12 criminal counts he faced, including racketeering conspiracy and wire fraud. Guo has been jailed since his March 2023 arrest.

-- BERNAMA