Singapore’s Online Safety Commission (OSC) should ultimately aim to handle fewer cases, rather than measure success by how many complaints it can resolve, Law and Home Affairs Minister Edwin Tong said as the new body reviews its first months of work.
Speaking on Sept. 23, Tong said the more important question is what the commission can learn from the cases it receives and how those lessons can prevent similar online harms from happening again. The OSC began operations on June 29, 2026.
The commission has received more than 500 reports since its launch and resolved more than 90 per cent of eligible reports, according to figures shared by Digital Development and Information Minister Josephine Teo. Tong said those early figures were encouraging but should not become the sole measure of the commission’s performance.
Instead, he said authorities should examine cases collectively to identify recurring patterns, including repeat perpetrators and platform features that may contribute to online harm. The objective is to address problems at their source and reduce the need for victims to seek intervention in the first place.
The OSC currently handles five categories of online harm: online harassment, online stalking, doxxing, intimate image abuse and image-based child abuse. Eight additional categories covered under Singapore’s Online Safety (Relief and Accountability) Act will be introduced progressively.
Under the current framework, victims can seek assistance from the OSC when platforms fail to respond adequately in certain cases. For online harassment and stalking, victims generally first have to report the harmful material to the platform and can approach the commission if there is no adequate response within 24 hours. More serious harms, including doxxing and intimate image abuse, can be reported directly to the OSC.
Tong also said the Government is working with online platforms to improve reporting channels and make it easier for victims to obtain remedies. Current platform response times for online-harm notices range from six to 48 hours, while authorities are looking at ways to make the reporting process more direct.
The broader objective is to develop an online environment in which platforms can respond to harmful material more effectively before cases reach the commission. Tong said the long-term goal is for the online ecosystem to become increasingly capable of preventing and managing harmful behaviour without requiring repeated intervention.
The OSC’s first months therefore provide authorities with more than a tally of complaints. The cases are also being treated as a source of information that could shape future safeguards, platform responsibilities and the remedies available to people affected by online harm.
